Cry For You
by The Meibito
Summary: A single teardrop that saved them all, a heartfelt tear that saved the lives of many; she had cried it only for him. He had lost her—and he would take her back. No matter what the cost. Based on Seonaid Mist's 'Tears for the One'. ElazulxheroinexEscad
1. she cries

Curse you, Share thing. Ruining my formatting...

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><p><em><strong>Cry For You<strong>_

A rewrite and continuation by The Meibito

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><p><strong>a: <strong>_**she cries**_

**Elazul**

His eyes watched her carefully. The way she looked around, with her eyebrows knitted, and her eyes wide and full of emotion. She looked like the world had ended, and that it was her fault. It was a look he'd seen on her face on very few occasions— they were not very pleasant ones either. Her expression showed it all— sadness, regret, guilt, helplessness…

She wore her heart on her sleeves; at the moment, he wished she didn't.

He hated that expression, but it had more to do on what he always felt when he sees it than what it looked like on her face. He always felt his insides churn in inexplicable ways; his chest would burn, his lungs would feel constricted, his breathing would feel unnatural and false— there was an unbelievable urge to scream and yell and smash things. The feeling he gets when he sees her sorrowful face was reminiscent to how it would feel like if his core was to be slowly and agonizingly crushed into tiny bits of powder.

_It was painful._

One would think that after a huge triumph in battle, particularly against the Lord of Jewels, one would wear a happy face, accompanied by a huge victory cry, and maybe a little dance. After all, his destruction, along with Alexander's, was a beacon of hope for all of the Jumi.

_Was it really?_

Elazul watched her carefully. She stood there, arms wrapped around her body as though she was cold. She looked even smaller than she used to, he observed. She suddenly whipped her head back, took a deep, visually shuddering breath, and shut her eyes tight. His heart jumped to his throat; he knew what she was doing.

_She's trying not to cry._

Why was she so invested in this? Enough even to feel as sad as to cry about it. He'd always wondered about this. She wasn't a Jumi— the one feeling all that pain should be him. Although Jumi couldn't cry anymore, the one who should even feel like crying was him. Not her.

The outcome of beating the Lord of Jewels, it wasn't lost on him. Not one Jumi returned. Nothing happened. He'd expected this result. Destroying him gave only hope, but not miracles. Elazul knew this and had accepted it long before it happened. It was the harsh reality of life. He knew that he would dwell on this loss for the rest of life as, perhaps, the last Jumi, and he was prepared for such a life. However, he was not prepared for _her_ pain— he was not prepared to face it.

It felt like an eternity to him, standing there as he watched her silent despair. He couldn't trust himself to speak or move. He just watched her feel enough misery for the both of them. He'd unknowingly held his hand to his aching chest, and before he knew it, he'd croaked out her name.

"Imu."

He watched as she took another deep, shuddering breath. But she didn't respond. He tried again, clearer and louder, "Imu."

No response. The silence was deafening; the only sounds in the air were their breathing, and even that seemed like loud, unbearable noise.

He swallowed what seemed like air, as both his mouth and throat felt as dry as the Duma, and took a tentative step towards her.

"Stop."

He did. Her voice was barely above a whisper, yet it was as clear as crystal to him. When she spoke, it felt like a spell had been broken. The time that stopped between them restarted. Breathing was normal again.

"Imu," he called again, a bit more loudly and confidently. He took another step towards her, his arm outstretched. He didn't know what to do or say, but he knew what he wanted. Just a small touch, between the two of them. For her comfort and his.

"Don't come any closer," came her whisper of a voice. She usually sounded loud and full of life, he recalled, but now she sounded dead, like a ghost. There was an unmistakable shakiness in her voice, a telltale sign of crying that was about to begin.

He swallowed air. No. She knew what would happen if she cried— she wouldn't. She couldn't.

_I won't let her._

Elazul took another determined step, his face set. Another step, a hand outstretched, reaching towards her.

In a flash, Imu had her spear in her hand. "I-I said stop!" she stammered, weakly. "Stay away from me, Elazul." The blade of her spear pointed at him threateningly. But all he could see was a weapon that was held so shakily, it was more likely to miss than hit him.

"I don't see why I have to," he responded, his tone angrier than he intended. "Let's go, Imu." He walked towards her.

"Go where? You have nowhere to go to."

Elazul stopped abruptly. His brows furrowed in confusion. He couldn't tell if she was being intentionally insulting and insensitive or not. There was no malice in her words, but she was serious. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't the type of person to say such things out of spite. But what she said was confusing this notion.

"Everyone's gone," she said. Her green eyes met his dark ones. Sadness and sorrow were evident in her expression. Tears were formed in her eyes, tears that could fall any time. He stood paralyzed at the sight; his blood ran cold with fear at what could happen if even a single teardrop escaped her eyes.

_No._

He then understood.

"Don't," he managed to say, his voice hushed. "Don't cry. It'll be okay." He wasn't sure what he meant would be "okay" but he'd said the words before he could think about them.

"Sorry," she said, lowering her spear. "I'm sorry…"

He wanted to respond— even just a little "what" or "why". But he couldn't move or speak. His breathing almost stopped altogether. He was afraid of her tears; he was afraid that if he made the wrong move, or said the wrong words, her tears would fall and she would turn into—

"I couldn't do anything… I couldn't help…" Her breath hitched. "I'm just a stupid, nosy, little brat… just like you said. I failed. I failed everyone. I failed _you_." Her spear clattered to the ground as she hugged herself, lips pursed and quivering.

Elazul's heart broke at the sight.

"I-idiot!" he finally managed, his voice almost that of a shout. He immediately regretted the one word he had chosen to say in such a crucial moment. "You helped a lot, Imu. You—you _are _nosy and stupid, but you did everything you could. You didn't fail anyone."

_You've always helped me. You stuck with me even though I'm a Jumi… even though I'm a danger to you._

Imu broke into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"I'm sorry about Pearl."

_Pearl…_

"Rubens, Diana, Esmeralda, Pearl… They're all gone. Because I failed.

…you're all alone, because I failed."

His chest felt like it was being squeezed. He felt that urge to scream and yell… to _cry_. It was true that he was all that was left of the Jumi— Florina herself was now on the brink of death. It was a possible reality that he faced with Pearl day by day as they journeyed in search of others. He'd prepared himself to face a future without his Guardian or without anyone else. In this regard, he had, for so long, known himself to be alone.

_But when I met you, I felt like I'll never be alone ever again. _

"I'm not, and you didn't." He approached her now with determined steps. His eyes locked with hers. "This is a stupid thing to cry about, Imu. I'm never going to be alone." He reached out his hand, and gently laid it on her arm. She was warm to touch, and he reveled in it.

"Are you in denial or something?" she said outright, tone incredulous. Elazul almost felt like smiling at the hint of her returning spunk. The normalcy her words entailed relieved him and the world felt right again. He let out a sigh and dropped his arm to his side.

"No, stupid," he replied, lightheartedly. "I just know that you'll always be around to bother me every now and then. How can I possibly be all alone?"

_You were always there for me._

Imu smiled at him. It was a grateful, happy little smile that returned his insides to the right order. The little crinkle around her eyes as she did so left her unshed tears hung over her eyelashes, and without thinking, he'd reached out and wiped them away with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," she said again. She took his hand in hers, and held it close to her chest. "…I love you."

Elazul froze with shock. She said she loved him. What? Why? _How?_ His mind worked with a million thoughts a minute, the idea of her confession sending his thoughts in complete disarray. Did she mean as a brother, or as a friend? Or as something else? She told him three simple words that felt like he could take ages to finally understand and respond to.

But he didn't have that time.

"I'll bring her back for you," she continued. She squeezed his hand tightly, her breath hitching. "This… this is the only thing I can do for you now…"

She locked her gaze with his— her tear-filled eyes with his confused and fearful ones. And slowly, a sad smile spread across her face. The little crinkle in her eyes as she smiled allowed a single teardrop to slide down her cheek. "…to cry for you."

_NO!_

Flesh turned to a stone gray in front of his eyes. The fingers that held his hand rapidly lost their warmth and their softness; all that remained was coldness of a lifeless stone.

The ancient curse of the Jumi has turned Imu into stone.

His mouth opened in a silent scream. Everything came crashing back down on him. The world felt as though it had crumbled around him— his worst fear had come to fruition. Her single teardrop was all it took for his whole world to end right in front of him. His chest burned with so much emotion that it seemed he was about to burst. His hand came free from hers without his notice— he balled it into a fist and held it against his mouth as he let out a single, muffled cry of anguish. Her name.

_Imu._

The single, crystalline teardrop that hung from her now dead stone face shone as though in response.

It was a nightmare. Everything was just a horrible dream. None of it happened. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his head, and forced himself to wake up from this awful nightmare.

He would simply wake up in their room in Domina's Inn. He would wake up to find that he'd dreamed it all up during his sleep. Imu would be asleep on the floor beside her bed, because she couldn't stay still even in her sleep. He would pick her up, tuck her in, and go back to sleep for another day traveling. Imu would then wake him up with a pillow and they'll start another normal, carefree day…

Warm liquid slid down his face through his eyes. It reflected the burning ache he had in his chest. It was a strange sensation. It wasn't sweat— it was coming from his eyes. He held his palm to his face, examining. They were warm and hot and they wouldn't stop flowing. _They were tears_.

He was _crying. _

Suddenly, his lapis lazuli core shone brightly, and his senses tingled with familiarity. A crowd seemed to have formed around him— a crowd that his core resonated with. He opened his eyes and looked around to find strange and familiar faces alike staring back at him.

Esmeralda, Rubens, Diana… and dozens more others with different colored cores shining and twinkling brightly with his. Florina stood amongst them, her formerly scarred core now smooth and shining brilliantly with theirs. Everyone has returned. All the Jumi has been revived. It was, certainly, just like a dream.

"E-Elazul?" came a voice that was all too familiar to him. Elazul turned to see his Guardian, Pearl, standing beside him. She looked confused and surprised, her hands held together in front of her uneasily as she surveyed him. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she studied him. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched his face. He let her.

"Tears…" she breathed, astonished, "Elazul… you're crying. But the Jumi—" her words died abruptly. The reason reflected in her eyes; she had seen Imu.

The dreamy surrealism of the moment had turned into a reality. He knew what she had found. A thing that he denied only as his nightmare has become reality through his Guardian's eyes. The unmistakable twinge of sorrow that their cores shared for a moment was the proof that he'd indeed lost a very valuable friend.

"She cried for us," Pearl whispered through her hands. It was an odd sight, but she, as well, had tears in her eyes. "She cried for us… and revived all of us…"

_No, she didn't._

A buzz went through the room and its inhabitants. None of them knew the girl that had been turned into a stone as well as Elazul did, yet there was a similar ache that was shared between all the cores of the Jumi. Words like "hero" and "teardrop crystal" were heard all around, but none of the name of the person who had saved them all.

_Imu…_

Yet in his head, he still called her name, as his nightmare went on around him. He still had the vaguest hope of waking up and finding himself being playfully smothered awake with a pillow by his mischievous blonde haired friend.

But everyone had other ideas.

"She cried for everyone and saved us."

"Risked her life for us!"

"She's a hero."

"She created a miracle!"

He held his head and silently disagreed. He felt an unbelievable urge to scream, and yell, and smash things. If only he had told her earlier to stay away— if only he hadn't brought her into their lives, if he hadn't allowed her be too involved with the Jumi, she would not have turned into stone.

It was his fault. He'd done this to her.

Thinking of only her tear-filled eyes and last words, he turned and embraced Imu's stone body to his… and wept.

"_I love you."_

…_she cried for 'me_'.

He didn't deserve her tears.

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><p><em>'Cos I die a little each time<br>When she cries_

"_When She Cries" - Restless Heart_

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><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:<strong>_ This is a rewrite and continuation of _Seonaid Mist's_ "Tears for the One" fanfic. "Legend of Mana" is Squaresoft's, fanfic plot is SM's. I have permission, so don't report me or anything like that. No profit, besides enjoyment, is being made with this little piece of fandom. My idea for this fic is a bit different, but the basic premise is hers.

Tears for the One's Mia = Imu. Her new name is a shout out to the awesome Legend of Mana manga by Amano Shiro-sensei. :3

Thank you for reading! Review please. :3

—The Meibito (2011)


	2. girl meets world

_**note:**_ **—** denotes a break in the story, _**—o—**_ denotes a difference in PoVs and places in the same timeline, _**—x— **_denotes a huge timeskip, flashback, or a different timeline

_**warning: **_text/event heavy chapter.

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><p><strong>b: <strong>_**girl meets world**_

**Imu**

She stepped outside the gates of her home for the very first time. Ever since she could remember, there had always been a huge expanse of empty land surrounding her quaint little home. She'd known no one else but herself and her late mother.

Her name was Imu. She stood tall and easy despite her slightly miniature stature, head held high with a hint of a smile of her face. Her eyes were as green and farseeing as the fields that lay in front of her since she was a child, and her long hair was the bright golden color of the sun. She looked bright and cheerful, almost like a child. She'd always thought she looked quite pleasant, just like her mother had been. She had the confidence that she looked at least like a normal person, despite the fact that she'd only known her mother as she grew up, so she really wouldn't know what a normal person would look like.

She'd lived in a very small world. A world of mother and daughter— of laughter and life and simplicity. When her mother died, her world began to feel _too_ small. She'd lived alone as she grew up; she'd never known the feeling of loneliness until she realized that she was, in fact, alone in her little world. Aside from the cactus that had grown in the pot in her room, which she aptly named Li'l Cactus, she was on her own. She lived like this for several years, alone and somewhat discontented.

Sometimes, she yearned to go out beyond her gates and through the wide stretch of green fields. She'd read stories about different kinds of people from many different places. Her mother had taught her that they were somehow brought into this world by other people as well. There were cities and other houses and things like animals and plants and monsters beyond her home. It was interesting, but she'd never really thought or cared about it until the only person in her life had gone.

She then wanted to find out what was out there, if there really were people like her, if there was more to it than what she sees, or if it ended in that horizon she watched time and time again. A sense of curiosity grew inside her as she spent day after day by herself. But she couldn't leave, no matter how hard she tried. She wasn't sure if it was fear of the unknown, or if it was merely a sense of unpreparedness, but she could never bring herself to open that gate and step outside its boundaries. It was like a taboo that she knew only at the back of her head, or like an invisible force that grounded her to her home, refusing to let her go.

One day, she woke up to find a little leafy creature standing behind her gates. It had smiled happily and expectantly at her the first time they met, and before she realized it, it had started living there, watching her happily as she went through her daily routine by herself.

She'd never spoken to it, not at first. But it spoke to her every day, about coming from a tree, about the sky and the stars and the ground. It spoke of how the breeze felt nice, and how the sun was so bright. It talked and talked about various things, and it gave her a sense of comfort as she listened to it. It was the complete opposite of Li'l Cactus. She would always talk to it, every day, and it wouldn't respond, only smile at her happily. Sometimes she doubted it was a living creature at all. Was it just a plant with a face?

When Imu finally spoke to the leafy creature, she'd said, "It's a nice breezy day today, isn't it?"

The creature had smiled at her and simply replied, "I'm a sproutling."

She let the sproutling through her gates. To see another living, speaking creature in her home was the strangest thing. It was her first visitor in her whole life. She'd smiled that day, and was genuinely glad for the company. She then talked to it every day, asking it all sorts of questions, but it never seemed to know clear answers. It would just say weird things like she can shape the world, and that everything was an imagination.

But still she welcomed it with a smile and was happy to find it right outside her house each time she stepped out to greet the morning. She considered the sproutling as her only friend in the world.

Today was a rare and special occasion for her. She woke up this morning with the knowledge that she'd grown a year older. She'd just turned sixteen. She was ecstatic and giddy, yet sad to realize that she had spent another year by herself in her little home. This birthday, however, she had her friend, the sproutling. It would be a nice, happy day, she decided.

Imu walked out her house that morning to find the sproutling standing at her gates, looking out into the empty fields. It didn't give any response to her presence as she approached it.

"Hi," she greeted happily.

"The world can be shaped by your imagination," it responded quietly, eyes still looking over the horizon.

She merely looked at it, unmoved. It had told her that before, she recalled. It was the typical, weird sproutling conversation.

"Pokiehl the poet told me so," the sproutling continued. "Did you know that?"

She smiled. It was the first direct question the sproutling had ever asked her— it was really too bad she didn't understand a thing it just said. "No," she said honestly.

The sproutling turned to her and smiled. "Here—" it took her hand and put what seemed like a small pile of toy blocks on it "—this is the town of Domina."

She was definitely perplexed at first. She only stared at the odd object she received. She uttered a confused "Thank you." and moved to put the 'present' she received in her pocket.

Abruptly, the sproutling opened her gates. "The world can be shaped by your imagination!" it repeated, jovially this time. Its eyes watched her expectantly.

The hand holding the blocks stopped in midair. She swallowed. She looked at the sproutling, the empty fields, the blocks, and back again. Somehow, at the back of her mind, she understood. All of a sudden, an idea crossed her mind. It had come out of nowhere, like the leafy little creature standing before her.

Somehow, she knew what she had to do.

—

Imu had stepped outside the gates of her home for the very first time. She walked a great distance from her house, feeling strange and disoriented. She'd never been anywhere else before this, and it was indeed a strange experience. She could only feel happiness and a little bit of flightiness and she took step after step away from her home and into the unknown. It was like a dream come true.

Before she knew it, the sun had risen high in the sky, denoting that she'd been walking for as long as five hours. She frowned, remembering that she'd missed breakfast. Sooner or later, she would have to go back home to feed herself. The idea saddened her somewhat, that she would have to return soon and maybe even empty handed. It wasn't a particularly happy idea for her either.

As soon as she started contemplating this, an odd yet delightful view started to form in the distant horizon. It was unmistakable— it was a town. Just like the pictures in her books. Several buildings built next to each other where people would live amongst themselves. There would be all sorts of people milling around in the same space, people that she would like to meet, talk to, and shake hands with. A town was just out there. _A town._

She'd sprinted towards the happy sight unknowingly. To her, she couldn't have moved fast enough. Towards a welcoming set of wooden gates she sprinted, only to stop to breathe. She stared up into the sign above her with glee— it read: "Welcome to Domina."

And Imu did, indeed, feel welcome.

Before she could take a step further, though, a small voice cut into the air. She couldn't make out the words, so she walked a little closer to the gates itself curiously.

"Hey!" the small voice called irritably. Imu followed where it came from, and came upon a small person with a strange onion-like helmet, facing something across its path.

She followed the walking onion's gaze, and her eyes met those of young man's. His glare was remarkably intimidating; he looked like he'd been born angry. He looked about her age, maybe older, but his eyes and demeanor told her that he was definitely a lot older than her measly sixteen years. He wore a mantle over his head and shoulders, and it was tied with a strange, circular ornament around the side of his head. The most significant sight that Imu considered about him was a large, beautiful blue stone set in the middle of his chest. He had made no effort to hide it by the looks of it— his tunic was specifically parted to show this gem to the world.

She immediately knew what he was. She'd read about his people in her books; they were fascinating, and the stuff of fairie tales. Her mother had told her several stories about them, she recalled, and she'd read about them too. They were majestic, magical people with beautiful stones that served as their lifeline. The young man was a Jumi.

Imu pursed her lips and looked away; she'd just realized that she'd been staring at the young Jumi with her mouth open. But why was he alone? She'd read that the Jumi would always be seen together in pairs, one Knight and one Guardian. She glanced back at the man, and decided that he had to be the knight— he had a sword, after all.

As though he realized he was being watched, he shifted his gaze from the onion-thing to her. He appraised her just as she did him, and it made her uncomfortable. Now she knew why her mother always told her it wasn't polite to stare. She just felt like she was somehow violated.

"At least give me your name!" an irritable voice cut through the air. The onion had continued to speak. She almost forgot he was there. She looked from the onion, to the young man, and back again. What had she just walked into?

The young man paused, and returned his gaze towards the onion-thing. He seemed to think for a moment, and then gave a subtle glance towards her as he replied in a low voice, "…Elazul." He then turned and walked into the building behind him.

So Elazul was his name. She smiled. He may not be particularly friendly, but he was another person and he had a name. It was rather significant to her— she'd never known anyone else's name in her life. Elazul… that would be the third name in her list, right after hers and her mother and Li'l Cactus. She'd yet to name the sproutling, come to think.

"Geez," said the onion thing abruptly with a huff, as he too turned around to enter his, Imu assumed, own house, "he makes me sick!" She silently agreed, but perhaps in a different sense than the onion. The way he'd appraised her made her feel sullied and weird. No one has really ever looked at her with such a judging expression. It was uncomfortable. Elazul was definitely someone she didn't want to hang around with.

Imu made to follow the little walking onion, but his back told her that he wanted to be left alone. She frowned, and simply watched as he disappeared into his house— or shop, as the sign in front of it told her. Maybe she could visit him later.

Turning her attention to the building across from the onion's, she made a decision to enter it. The sign above the entrance read: "Pub: Amanda and Barret's". A pub— that would be a place where people gather for food and drinks. That meant, aside from the unfriendly young man she had seen enter it, there would be other people in it. The idea of food and drinks also reminded her that she was now quite hungry.

Smiling and taking a huge whiff of the new place she'd just discovered, she marched her way towards the pub. It had those small, wooden swinging doors, and she could see something moving beyond it. _People. _She reached over to enter, and realized that the moving thing beyond the doors wasn't the inside of the pub, but something huge that was meeting her through it.

A huge, orange-y, rabbit-cat like man squeezed out of the doorway in front of her. "Out of the way, please," he grunted through the door. Imu hung back, shocked. "It's important to share." That was one huge rabbit-cat-thing— she thought she was going to get crushed.

To her surprise and discomfort, the rabbit-cat-man eyed her carefully as well. Then he smiled. He nodded at her, and said as he slowly walked away, "I'll be at the marketplace. Meet me there if you need me."

Whatever she might need him for, she really didn't know. Judging by the smile that he gave her as he walked away, it probably wouldn't be for something she would want anyway.

Imu sighed, checked the pub's doorway for anything huge moving, and took a determined step inside of it. She expected a place full of people, laughing and talking, just like the pictures in her books. But there was no one.

"Speak up!"

Or was there? Imu surveyed the huge room full of tables and chairs, and found the young man named Elazul and a little girl with butterfly wings in the far corner of the room. Elazul stood with his back to her, yet even then, he looked menacing. The winged girl shared those sentiments by the way she shivered and held herself in front of him. She was frightened.

Imu's stomach churned at the sight. The girl looked scared and helpless— what does he think he's doing, scaring a defenseless girl? Her mouth set in a straight line, she hurriedly approached them. Her brows furrowed, and her shoulders squared, she tapped him gently on the shoulder and said, in what she intended was a loud, intimidating voice, "Hey!" Her voice came out a rather pathetic squeak. She did succeed in getting his attention, though.

Elazul turned around quickly, his face twisted in anger. The flare in his dark eyes paralyzed Imu for a moment. "Silence!" he spat out, bits of spittle flying to her face, "Do not interrupt!" He then turned back around.

She wiped at her face with a grimace, and decided that she really didn't like him. If he was the type of person who goes around yelling and shouting and terrorizing people, then he was not worth her time. The winged girl didn't deserve his company either.

"Speak up," he said to the younger girl, approaching her slowly, like a hunter would his prey, "Don't make me angry…"

He's already pretty angry, Imu thought sarcastically as she silently regarded the situation. Really, what did he think he was doing?

The winged girl shuddered and looked away. She made a meek sound through her lips, but otherwise remained silent.

"What are you hiding?" demanded Elazul, taking another step closer. The girl shuddered and curled into herself fearfully. Imu fumed at the sight. Enough was enough.

"Hey!" she practically yelled, shoulders squared and body tight. She glared at the young man's back with as much anger as he did her. "Stop it! Leave her alone!" She stood tensed, ready for his retaliation. Or so she thought.

Once again, he turned towards her, his glare as severe as it could possibly get. She unintentionally took a step back from him. With a single look he'd sapped her anger from her and turned it into fear. He truly was frightening. "Shut up," he said, his voice dangerously low, "This is none of your business. Can't you just leave us alone?"

Swallowing and nearly choking on her own spit, Imu struggled to regain her confidence. What was she trying to do here? She'd almost forgotten. She caught a glimpse of the younger girl behind Elazul; she looked at her with wide, grateful eyes. Imu regained her bearings.

"No, I can't," she said clearly, chest out, ready for a challenge. She channeled all the strength she had into her glare, with a dire refusal to back down. "I can't leave my friend alone with the likes of you," she half-lied. The winged girl wasn't really her friend, but who was he to know?

Elazul scoffed. "Friend, you say?" he said, disbelieving, "I don't believe you." He immediately saw through her lie. Did she look that much of newbie? He turned back to the younger girl before Imu could respond. "Don't you have any idea?" he asked, gently now, and desperately. His tone stopped Imu for a moment. "Are you sure you don't know where she is?"

Imu then understood. He was looking for someone. It was probably his other half, the Jumi Guardian. She wondered what happened— he acted that way, although immature, because he'd lost his partner. It was an easy concept to grasp. Maybe if he acted nicer he would have gotten help by now, she thought, feeling hard-pressed to bear any sympathy for him.

The winged girl was silent for a while; regarding the young man in front her. She then shook her head 'no'.

"Damn it!" Elazul exclaimed suddenly, angry once again. He balled his hands into fists. "I've wasted my time!" He bumped into Imu's shoulder irritably as he stomped past, and kicked a chair out of his way as he exited the pub.

Imu rubbed her shoulder with a pained grimace. Definitely a person to avoid, that Elazul. She turned to the younger girl with a smile. "You okay?"

The girl looked at her for a moment, and then nodded shyly. "Thank you…"

Instead of a verbal response, it was Imu's stomach that did the talking. A low growl sounded between them. She blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Ehehehe… so this is a pub, right?" she asked, grinning uncertainly.

The winged girl gave a small smile and nodded. "Would you like anything to eat?"

"Yeah, umm, I'd like maybe… a little bread or…"

"One loaf of bread would be 5 lucre please."

"Lucre? What's that?"

"…"

—

Imu wandered through town like a ghost, hungry yet undeniably blissful. The winged girl, now known as Rachel, had refused to give her even a tiny morsel of food after she explained that she didn't have any money— or lucre, as she called it. She would have to travel another five hours back to her home to be able to eat anything. But she didn't have that much energy left anymore. Was she going to die by the side of the road on her birthday? She hoped not.

Nevertheless, her hunger didn't stop her from meeting people. She did, however, worry about their impression of her. She must have looked rather eerie and dead to have stopped Capella's juggling and Diddle's music at the sight of her in the town park, and to make the Reverend Nouvelle hurriedly advice her to pray to the Goddess for salvation the moment she stepped wearily into the town's chapel. Inspector Boyd had cringed at her when she passed, and had said something along the lines of "suspicious girl"— and the mail carrier, Pelican, had even sang a song about her rather emaciated aura. It was pitiful, yes, but she was happy to have met a lot of people. Duelle, the onion-thing, seemed to have taken a liking with her, and the sight of the friendly sproutlings made her really cheerful. She supposed she could try to change their impression of her later. After all, first impressions don't last.

Her stomach growled again. She caught a whiff of the delicious smell of food from the marketplace. It was the sole part of town that she avoided, as she felt like the scent of food was mocking her. She didn't have any money, so she would rather avoid the place to minimize her suffering.

Even then, Imu had taken small, tentative steps toward the marketplace. She was just about to enter it, blissfully sniffing at the aroma of food, when she heard a familiar voice call, "Hey!"

She looked around, confused. Was someone calling to her? And she knew that voice, she just couldn't place where she'd heard it.

"Hey, _over here_!" the voice called again, the tone annoyed. She then found the speaker. It was Elazul; he stood by the entrance to the marketplace, his face grimly serious. He regarded her the same way he did when they first met, and then said, "Take me with you."

Imu stared at him, uncomprehending. Did he just ask to take him with her? To where? And why? For what? Really, she wasn't going anywhere. Especially not in her current state.

He stared back, determinedly, and took a step towards her.

She frowned at him. From the very beginning, she decided that she wanted nothing to do with him. His presence was daunting, and he was mean, and he had no qualms on scaring little girls for his own wishes. She'd decided that he wasn't worth her time, and so she responded with those thoughts in her head, and a single, clear, "No." Then she turned around to leave him and the nice-smelling marketplace behind.

She was unprepared for what happened next. A hand had grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. She had neither the energy to struggle or protest, and so she simply stared into the face of her captor, Elazul, in astonished silence. "I'm not leaving you alone until we find her," he said gravely.

Imu had no idea how to respond. He was dead serious— for whatever reason, he really did need to take her with him, or the other way around. It was an odd thing to be needed by someone after so long. She really had no idea what to say.

Her stomach, once again, did the talking for her. A growl sounded between the two of them, cutting unabashedly into the budding tension in the air. Elazul's face immediately dropped its serious look, and donned a rather unreadable expression. He merely stared at her blankly as she blushed with embarrassment.

"Um… hehe.

Got any money?"

—_**o—**_

"Yurrna shasha bargai affurol."

"Don't talk when your mouth is full," Elazul reflexively told Imu in an admonishing tone. He'd bought the rather famished girl a grilled Iffish from the marketplace after their short and odd introduction. The girl had asked him before she even introduced herself if he had any money, and then threw in her name as an afterthought as they ordered the grilled fish from the merchant. She'd smiled so happily and brilliantly at him when he handed her the fish on a stick that he couldn't help but be taken aback, considering that they both did nothing but glare at each other from the moment they met.

Imu nodded with a soft blush and swallowed. "Sorry. I said, 'you're not such a bad guy after all'."

He fought the urge to smile. _I'm suddenly a nice guy because I gave you food? _he thought to himself, amused. He had heard from the townspeople that a reliable looking female traveler was in town. She hardly looked "reliable" as he observed her, but she had an air of ease about her, and a subtle confident spring in her step. She also carried with her an aura of strength. Despite his current situation, he strangely felt calm and composed whenever he interacted with her— he even felt like smiling or laughing. It had been a long time since he had felt this cheerful, and it was strange that a girl he just met was having this effect on him. Pearl would have been shocked.

At the thought of his Guardian, his face set into a scowl. He didn't have time to be feeding stray female travelers; _he has to find his missing Guardian_.

The younger girl held the grilled fish under his nose. "Want a bite?" she asked, oblivious to his inner trouble.

He shook his head in response, still frowning. "No," he said, brow furrowed. "Listen, we need to talk."

"We _are_ talking," she replied, taking another mouthful of fish. She was looking this way and that, her eyes bright and wide. Her gaze followed person to person in the small market crowd, a constant smile set on her face. She looked happily attentive to everything and everyone else.

"No, it's…" He trailed off and sighed, noticing that the girl was too preoccupied with her food and everything else to pay him any attention. "Come with me," he said instead, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her through the crowd out of the marketplace. He dragged her through the town quietly, stopping exasperatedly every now and then as she waved at sproutlings. He walked her to the pub where they had met for the first time, pushed her through the doors, and sat her down a table. The pub was empty, except for the winged girl and themselves. Just as well.

Imu had finished her Iffish by the time she'd been sat in a chair. She looked perplexed. "What," she said flatly, bewildered.

"A friend is missing," Elazul began grimly, staring outright into the other girl's face. "I heard from the townspeople. You're a traveler, correct?"

She looked even more confused, but answered, "Yeah, I guess you can call me that."

"You need to help me find my friend. I will do anything, just please help me find her. Her name is Pearl; she has long hair and wears a white dress."

The girl frowned now. "Wait, I think you're mistaken about something," she began hesitantly; "I'm not a strong-traveler-warrior or anything. I'm just me." She shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze. "I mean, there's no guarantee that I can help you find her. I just got in town today."

Elazul studied her warily. She didn't seem like she was lying, but he wondered why she denied that she was a strong warrior. He knew it from the moment he laid his eyes on her; she was a fighter. Although she was short and young looking, she had the body and the stature that only warriors who trained day by day had. He witnessed her fierceness during their first confrontation— it took all his might not to cave in to her, yet he had still felt humbled by her strength and was forced to comply. She was no ordinary person.

Imu cleared her throat. He hadn't realized that a silence had permeated between them after she spoke. "Well, if you really _need_ my help," she started, looking away from him, "I suppose I could come help you—" she played with her hair distractedly "—no promises, though."

He smiled this time, a grateful smile. He was relieved to hear that she would aid him. Everyone else had shrank away from him when he tried to ask; he supposed that was his fault as well, he'd been stomping around Domina angrily since he came here. But now, he suddenly felt like everything was going to be alright.

"But," she continued, smiling mischievously, "I would like some diceberry juice before we go."

Clearly amused, he leaned back on his chair, and watched as Imu called the winged girl, whose name was Rachel, over for her order. When the winged girl's eyes met his, however, a different look passed between them. It was a knowing look that made him jump up from his chair. "What?" he asked in a hushed voice. He gave the winged girl a glare, silently daring her to hide the meaning of that look from him. Imu also stood from her chair, looking ready to push him down if the need should arise.

Rachel merely set her lips in a straight line, and placed something round and green on the table. "Here," was all that she said to describe it.

"An egg?" said Imu, examining the oval shaped object on the table. "Can I eat this?" She took it in her hands and looked at it closely. After a moment, her eyes widened as though she finally knew what it was. Then she gingerly handed it to Elazul.

"So," he said, staring the object that was being handed to him. "What's this…?" He held it to his face and observed it, and he slowly realized what it was. He felt it resonate in his core, the slight, almost undetectable hint of his Guardian's presence in the little jade egg. "It smells like Pearl!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

"_What?_" said Imu incredulously, her nose crinkled in confused disgust. "Smell? Smells like? What are you, a pervert or something? Are you stalking this girl?"

Elazul ignored her. He handed her the egg hurriedly, and pulled her out of her chair. "We should hurry!"

"But you _smell_ her!"

—_**x—**_

The first time Imu had met Elazul, she'd disliked him. She was awed by the fact that he was a Jumi, but other than that, she'd never been too fond of him. Admittedly, she'd liked him a bit better after he treated her to some food, but the events afterwards threw her fondness of him back to dislike. As soon as they'd found Pearl, he'd left her side without a word of thanks and had run off with only a slightly affronting description to his lost-and-found friend "she's just a strange kind of person". The other girl, Pearl, was meek and submissive to his demands— she'd obviously wanted to thank her other savior, but Elazul had yelled at her. Imu wondered how the other girl was able to fare in his company. She supposed his angry personality was what made Pearl go missing in the first place.

Li'l Cactus had spoken its first words when she came home that first night. It said, "Welcome home!" and had smiled expectantly, as though it knew that Imu was going to tell it about her day. She did.

She'd excitedly recounted her day to the cactus, about the people she met, and about her experience. She'd complained about Elazul as well. The plant listened to her attentively, and, when it thought she wasn't watching, it stood, walked from its pot, and wrote on the leaves that were nailed on the wall. Imu read it the next morning, and found herself laughing at what was written.

_Fighting a monkey in the Caverns and saving a girl! Wow, that sounds like something out of a story book. But the girl was really shy and turned red, and I guess that was too much for my master. The man that master helped was also really mean and nasty! I guess master didn't like him very much. I don't like him too!_

Even then, the mean and awful sounding Jumi knight had turned into her best travel companion. She never did figure out how it came to that— it just became a habit to seek him out if she needed a companion, and at the same time, he'd made it a habit to seek her out for his troubles. He started growing on her, strangely enough, from dislike, to indifference, to fondness (it must have been the food he treated her to)— and before she realized it, she'd taken immense joy in his company, and had begun, on occasion, to feel rather lost without him. After the sproutling, and maybe Li'l Cactus, Elazul had become her friend. Albeit several levels meaner and tougher than the sproutling, the Jumi knight actually made more sense than all the sproutlings combined. She'd nicknamed the young Jumi "Laz", much to his dismay, to commemorate their friendship. She claimed it was shorter and thus better than his weird name; "Laz" retaliated by saying how her name sounded like how a cow would cry after being poked in the eye with a stick ("Ee! _Moo…_").

After a while, Elazul had disappeared from Domina without a trace. It was right after Imu had "adopted" two elven children, who started living in her house and proudly called themselves her "apprentices". Strangely, they regarded her as some kind of strong sorceress, and refused to believe otherwise when she tried to correct them. Their names were Bud and Lisa, and they weren't very fond of the young Jumi knight. He had, after all, yelled at them when he and Imu confronted them about the pumpkin army they made in Domina. The twins were pretty unforgiving, despite Imu's efforts to explain Elazul's "circumstances".

She was sad to find that he was gone. He'd become a constant presence in her life, she discovered places with him, and learned many things with him; like learning how to catch monster eggs, whence she caught her first rabite (that she named "Rabite", much to Elazul's amusement). With Elazul missing, she had no one else to drag around the world with. Bud and Lisa were out of the question— she decided that they were too young to be out and about anyway. She would send them out for various chores and errands, but other than that, she never tried to bring them anywhere where there were dangerous monsters.

Imu then travelled alone. It may have been a streak of bad luck on her part, as she'd stumbled into an awkward courtship between Gilbert, a centaur, and Monique, a siren— that somehow involved selling lamps and learning dudbear language, in a beautiful night city called Lumina. It was fun while it lasted, but when she'd received a tome (an artifact, as she'd learned about the strange objects she receives), as thanks for her troubles; it was when her bad luck truly began. She'd unknowingly slipped into a dark, empty field, and was spirited away into the Underworld. She truly thought that she had died. As it turned out, she was in fact lured into the Underworld because of her "strong adventurer" status. She vaguely wondered where people got this idea, and how exactly in the world it even reached the Underworld. She never figured out how the communication network worked in Fa'Diel.

Imu met the wolf-man Larc, a dragoon, Olbohn, one of the seven Wisdoms, and the shadoles, some of the most annoying creatures she'd ever encountered. The former wanted her help to defeat dragons— frightening thoughts of being mangled by dragons aside, she'd flat-out refused because she really just wanted to get out. The land of the dead wasn't exactly the ideal place she wanted to be at any given time. He then, dejectedly, took her to meet a young man named Escad, who was then about to leave the Underworld. He was tall—as tall as Larc, with long silvery-blond hair that spiked out at the edges, narrowed green eyes, and, Imu couldn't help but notice, very small and tight clothing. She'd shifted uncomfortably at the thought of having to wear clothes like his; it looked like he'd outgrown the garments by several years.

The man named Escad had hardly spared her a glance. He regarded her like she was only some insignificant insect or some extra luggage— he seemed more focused on what was ahead of him. Begrudgingly, he'd taken her with him to the surface, and left without saying a word. Larc had seen her off, looking quite crestfallen. Imu inwardly decided that she would come back to help the dragoon once she was strong enough to face even the _thought_ of fighting dragons. For that, she had a long way to go.

Imu continued her travels alone, and once she'd brought Bud in tow to meet the wisdom Gaeus in the Luon Highway. There, they met Daena, a warrior-monk from the Gato Grottoes, and together they spoke to the huge talking mountain that was a wisdom. Bud was ecstatic; Daena looked rather baffled, but satisfied. Imu was glad to have helped.

It took a while, but Imu had eventually learned to seek out others to travel with her. She'd gotten used to meeting new people to journey with her. She'd also developed the habit of nosing into other people's business. She'd found many friends this way; particularly one Mr. Moti, who seemed to be everywhere all at once. Before she knew it, she'd been branded as a jack of all trades; people relied on her to do anything and everything— that included locating lost hammers, saving a suicidal Diddle from himself, helping weird pirate penguins, and begrudgingly helping Gilbert with his affairs. People have been in and out of her home as well— the workshop in her backyard had been rebuilt by Watts, Professor Bomb, and a Geo student. She discovered that there had been a magical tree called Trent in her orchard. The disappearance of Elazul became the farthest thing in her mind because of her rather busy schedule. She was sure that he would be fine— he had Pearl with him, after all. Pearl was all he needed, she'd concluded.

Imu's nosy habits eventually brought her into the conflict between the man named Escad, and a demon named Irwin. It was a heartbreaking experience. She understood Matilda, the Gato Grottoes' Abbess, and her desire for freedom; she had been there herself. She shared the pain that Irwin felt, whether he knew that he felt it or not, and the determination he had to do all he can for Matilda; destroy the world for her freedom. She sympathized with Daena—all the girl wanted was to do what was good for Matilda and her friends, but she couldn't decide on the two paths that lay before her. Escad just wanted to fulfill his duty to himself as a Holy Knight and to protect the Abbess, as well as destroy Irwin to save the world and get Matilda back to her original self. He never failed to say how much he hated Irwin and how much he needed to kill a demon such as him; but it looked like he hardly meant any of it to heart.

As an outsider to all the affairs, Imu saw how painful it was all for the four of them. They all wanted something for the other, yet their means and ends varied so much that they became torn apart. It was a sad conclusion to their relationships, once Irwin was defeated and Matilda had died.

Imu had stayed with Escad and Daena for quite a long time. Her wounds had been so severe that she was incapacitated for several weeks. It was partially her fault for trying to be a hero; Escad had almost died in their last fight with Irwin, had she not saved him. Ironically, she'd been told to be a hero by the Holy Knight himself, which would have involved letting him fall to his death— instead, she'd tried to save him, which was heroic by _her _standards, and ended up with almost a vegetable for a body. Daena and Escad had finished the job by dealing the final blow to Irwin, yet by the time they'd returned to the grottoes, Matilda had passed away.

As Imu recovered from her wounds in the grottoes, the righteous and holy atmosphere served to hone her mischievous instincts. Later on, she supposed she should have acted more grateful that she was being well taken care of, yet she hadn't been able to help herself— poor Daena and the nuns had made exceptional precautions to make sure that her stay at the temple was comfortable. Escad was particularly attentive of Imu; she believed it was because he owed her his life. She'd taken great joy in ordering him around to do her bidding— it was especially amusing when she told him to switch the bath soaps with pink dye. She'd almost died with laughter when Daena had burst into her room with her fur the color of neon pink. The newly pink-haired nuns around the temple had feared that they were perhaps cursed by a wandering demon. She and Escad had been admonished for a full hour. She had no regrets.

She became close friends with the two. She was also happy that, in that time, Daena and Escad had begun to mend their broken friendship with each other. The warrior-monk had once admitted that she and the Holy Knight may have been using Imu to fill the void that her late friend, Matilda, had left. Daena assumed it was so because the last time she had ever been friendly with the blond knight was when the Matilda was still herself. Escad's actions were somewhat indicative of this; he really was rather nicer to her after Matilda's death. In fact, he had been nicer in general. Maybe his brush with death humbled him? Or maybe he truly was happy that Irwin was gone? Or he was really never such a bad guy to begin with? Nevertheless, Imu didn't mind at all. She never once felt like her friendship with them wasn't genuine, so it really didn't matter whether they were using her to fill Matilda's shoes or not.

Imu was disappointed when it was time for her to leave the temple. While she'd caused all sorts of trouble for everyone, some of them still expressed regret that she had to leave. The others were glad to be rid of her. Still, she was glad that she wasn't thoroughly disliked. Gato Grottoes had become her second home. Sure, she'd been labeled the "temple idiot", but she considered that more of an endearment than an insult. She'd promised to visit again one day— Escad wanted to make sure that she would do so by threatening to drown the sproutlings. Daena secretly assured her that she wouldn't let him. All Imu could think about was how much she would miss them.

She came home to a tearful reunion with her twin apprentices, Bud and Lisa. The tears mostly came from Lisa; Bud had an abundance of snot. She'd apparently been gone for four whole months. They thought she had died. She'd smiled at them and assured them that such a thing would never happen. She had to admit, she'd become stronger than she was before. It had almost been a year since she set foot outside her home and discovered the world. She had learned a lot in that short amount of time, but she felt like there was more to the world than what she sees.

Domina was the same when she came back to it. It had been so long since she last visited the place. She was pleasantly surprised when a familiar face greeted her from the marketplace crowd. It was Elazul.

"You _idiot_! Where have you been?" had been his first words for her after so long. Before she could have responded, he continued with a long string of questions ("what happened to your arm what's wrong with your eye why is it bandaged why are you limping is that a scar on your leg why do you look like a mummy _what happened_?") that left Imu both very amused and baffled— and just a little bit pleased. It was probably one of the few times she'd seen Elazul so frantic; most of those times had been because of his missing guardian.

After their bizarre reunion, they went to the place where they always met— the Amanda and Barret's pub. Imu had made sure that Elazul knew he had to buy her some food before they talked, and the latter begrudgingly agreed. The knight had told her that he'd been looking for her for days. He needed her help; a friend was missing.

Pearl again, she'd concluded. Elazul told her that it wasn't Pearl, as she was safe in Domina's inn. He explained to her his mission; he was looking for other Jumi, to live together again with them. It had been quite difficult, as they had not found any, only false rumors. There had been news of Jumi murders as well, so he decided that it would be unsafe to travel with just him and Pearl. In point of fact, he'd wanted to continue his mission by himself, while Pearl stayed somewhere safe, but the recent murders also made it all the more dangerous for him to be alone. So he concluded that he needed her as a companion.

Imu felt honored to be relied on again. She'd spent much of her days prior as being reliant on other people because of her injuries. But with Elazul's request, she would be back on the road. She suggested her home for Pearl to stay in, Bud and Lisa would be there to keep her safe and give her some company, and the knight responded with a grateful smile.

And so they left off in search for other Jumi. Oddly enough, Elazul had hesitated just as they'd begun their journey. He'd asked if she was sure that she wanted to help him; she huffily said yes, she was very sure. When he told her it was dangerous to be with him, Imu had assumed it was because he was afraid that the murderer would come after her as well. She reminded him that she was not Jumi, so she couldn't possibly be a target. Elazul gave her a face of quiet disagreement, as though she'd missed the point, but he dropped the subject.

Their search led them to Polpota harbor, alongside Inspector Boyd, who had been investigating the case. It was there that the Jumi murderer had identified herself as Sandra, a jewel thief. Apparently, she'd been collecting Jumi cores. She took the one in the possession of a Basketfish— a sapphire core, and left without a trace. Elazul had been livid. He was upset that Jumi cores were treated merely as shiny objects of monetary value. Imu silently shared his anger. She was friends with both the lapis lazuli knight and the pearl guardian. She couldn't see their cores in any way other than their life. They were definitely not objects to be sold or collected. The Jumi were people too.

Gato Grottoes had come up in their next list. There had been a Jumi there, yet Imu could not remember meeting one in her stay. She'd decided that she would ask Escad and Daena themselves— and that was how they found the Jumi called Rubens. His core, the flame of hope, was Sandra's next target, as it said in the letter she usually drops before she steals. With the combined efforts of Elazul, Escad, and Imu, they'd thought that Rubens was protected. They were wrong. Sandra had taken his core as well, right in front of them. It was the first time Imu had seen a Jumi's core be snatched out of him. She'd cringed at the thought that it could happen to Elazul or Pearl. She decided that she would do everything she can to keep them safe from such a fate.

They'd left the grottoes with heavy hearts. Elazul had been the most devastated; he made Imu promise not to mention any of the previous events to Pearl. Imu already knew that, and she really would rather not speak of the event ever again. Even as they reached Geo, they carried the dreadful feeling in their hearts, until they met the bright-eyed Esmeralda. She was a cheerful girl who was on a mission to find her sisters' lost cores. She had an overprotective teacher, a rag called Nunuzac (he insisted he was the best sorcerer who ever lived— and he was definitely no rag!), who refused to let her out of his sight.

During the middle of it all, Imu had become the Jumi girl's Knight. She thought nothing of it at first; but when Sandra's letter came, announcing that she was going to take the lucky clover, which were apparently what Esmeralda and her sisters together were called, Imu realized that she had a duty to protect her new Guardian. She didn't want to see her end up with the same fate as Rubens. To see a girl like Esmeralda losing her life was something she couldn't imagine. Esmeralda had a spark in her eyes that proved she was a living, breathing being who loved life. Imu, herself, had felt like her new guardian out-cheered her in more ways than one.

After they'd found the three emerald cores, with the help of a jewel merchant named Alex, Sandra made her move. It was all so quick— before they realized what had happened, Esmeralda and the three other cores had been taken. Imu had not been able to do anything as Esmeralda laid in the pool of her own blood, an empty space carved in the middle of her chest where her core had been. Imu had fallen to her knees in misery; she'd almost started crying. Elazul had snapped her out of it, and demanded rather hurriedly that she better not cry _or else_. Imu then remembered— if a human cries for a Jumi, he will be turned into stone. It was an ancient curse, made to cut off Jumi ties with the humans. Humans were their natural greedy enemies after all. They craved only their healing tears and their cores. Sandra proved to be this kind of enemy; she mercilessly pulled out the cores of the Jumi and took them as her own. To her, they weren't lives, but stones.

Imu had tried her best during the next few days not to cry— by the way Elazul had glared at her anytime she looked like she was about to cry, it had seemed like he was ready to kill her twice if she even let herself shed a single tear. Imu supposed that was his way of showing that he cared. It cheered her up somewhat.

They'd spent several more days together, just reveling in the comfort of each other's presence as they searched for news of other Jumi. Elazul had been mostly concerned about her— he admitted that he'd once lost a guardian due to his carelessness. That was why he was very protective of Pearl, and that he understood what Imu was going through. Imu then wondered how old he was— he couldn't have lost his other guardian too long ago, but it seemed like he and Pearl had been partners for a long while.

When he revealed his age Imu had been more than a little shocked, and a bit appalled ("You're _eighty_? How can you be so _old_? Pearl should be like your granddaughter now or something!"), and he quickly and almost laughingly applied that Pearl was, perhaps, at least several centuries older than him, and that Jumi never aged or grew old anyway, so their ages had very little to do with their partnerships. Imu remained disbelieving— she'd known that Jumi were very magical people, but agelessness seemed to be taking it too far. She'd refused to believe that Pearl was several hundred years old as well.

The topic had served to be a good distraction for Imu, but it didn't take long before she remembered Esmeralda. Elazul knew how painful it was for her, even though she was no Jumi, and that Esmeralda had been her guardian for only two days. He'd offered her comfort, and had been really nice and understanding, in his own little way. Imu had strangely felt like abusing his kindness; she'd felt a sort of odd giddiness at the way his attention had shifted only to her. She couldn't explain why, but she liked it.

While Elazul and Imu had been away looking for news about other Jumi, Pearl had disappeared. They had arrived at her home to find that the twins had been beaten unconscious, and that Pearl had been taken. Sandra's letter, which was left tacked on Imu's fireplace, said that she had taken Pearl into the Mekiv Caverns. They wasted no time in following her into the caverns. Elazul had been particularly panicky. He had fallen into pits and tripped over rocks more times than he'd ever done before, and it was all due to his haste. If the Jumi were able to cry, Imu imagined that the knight would have been running in tears towards his guardian.

It was a difficult confrontation with Sandra. She seemed to have more of a reason why she was taking Jumi cores. She spoke of the Jumi like she hated them with all her heart. She'd wanted revenge, but she didn't give a reason. And she demanded the impossible from her captive, Pearl; she demanded tears. Elazul and Imu watched helplessly as Pearl tried in vain to squeeze out her tears. Sandra had sneered and took out a small knife— she threw it at Elazul. It looked like it had merely passed him, but when Elazul doubled back in pain, Imu knew that he was somehow injured. She'd rushed to his side, and worriedly called his name. He looked like he was in pure agony.

"His core has been scratched," Sandra had said, sneering. "Cry for your knight. Prove that you are not a useless clod." Pearl had slumped in Sandra's arms in despair, Imu felt like doing the same. Elazul had dropped to his knees, breathing harshly through his mouth. He was in so much pain that he could not speak or move. Imu felt her tears coming but she held them back.

A new Pearl had emerged. She called herself Lady Blackpearl. A battle between her and Sandra had commenced, with the latter retreating a little ways away from defeat. Imu had watched the whole thing as she held the quivering Elazul in her arms. Desperately, she had called out to the new Pearl. She didn't know what to do; Elazul was in pain, and she didn't know what she could do to help him. Lady Blackpearl had scoffed at her, and had merely told her to keep the "useless knight" away from trouble. She then walked away from them, but before she had completely left, she called back to Elazul, in a different tone, that she was sorry for the pain she had caused, and she had given Elazul freedom— statements that Imu didn't understand. Lady Blackpearl was going to confront Sandra by herself.

Imu had taken the injured knight into her home. Bud and Lisa had scampered around to help heal him, they felt responsible for failing to protect his guardian, yet they could do nothing. The Jumi were unaffected by other types of healing. They could only watch as he laid in Imu's bed, groaning and gasping for breath. Imu had never felt so distressed in her whole life. She could only watch as her friend laid helpless and hurting. A piece of her heart broke with each pained breath he took under her care. She wanted to cry for him, but she knew she shouldn't.

After a few days, Elazul had regained enough strength to speak— yet he only called out for one name, Pearl. Imu had felt a twinge of jealousy, and she felt guilty that she did. It was neither the time nor the place to be thinking of such things, and yet there she was, jealous that Elazul had called for his guardian. She realized how selfish she was; it was the first time that she ever felt like she could hate herself. She had put her feelings before her friend's safety, even to feel bitterness towards her while she was missing.

It was then that she realized exactly what her feelings for the lapis lazuli knight were. She'd never thought it was possible; she knew Elazul should be last person she would fall in love with— he already had someone in his heart to protect and cherish. She had no place in it, and she'd known that from the beginning. Elazul needed Pearl, not her.

Her heart ached with this realization. She knew for a fact that Elazul would want nothing to do with her if he ever found this out. He had always been wary of their relationship in the first place; sometimes it would seem like he wanted nothing to do with her, sometimes it would be the opposite, like he really needed her. She knew that they were at least friends… perhaps, that would be for the better.

Putting Elazul's welfare before the twinge in her heart, Imu determinedly set out in search of Pearl. In her search, she found news of another Jumi in Geo. It was probably Pearl, she'd decided, and searched the city for the guardian. Instead, she found a crystallized Jumi with a diamond core. Diana was her name— she was the person that Rubens had called for before his death. She had closed off her heart, turning her to stone, to prevent the jewel hunter from taking her core. But Sandra had been steps ahead of her.

Pearl had appeared then, or Lady Blackpearl. She helped Imu against Sandra without a word. But the thief had summoned a crystal monster, and left with Diana's core. It was too late when Blackpearl and Imu persevered against the monster; Sandra had disappeared with another Jumi core. Lady Blackpearl was livid. She vowed that she would stop Sandra at all costs. She then left without another word to Imu, even as the latter tried to tell her that Elazul needed her back as Pearl.

Disheartened, Imu searched through Geo to find clues as to where Blackpearl had gone. Instead, she'd found Elazul in an abandoned jeweler's building, struggling to stand up. He claimed he was no longer in pain, even though he still looked like he was, and that he'd known Imu had headed to Geo to find Pearl for him. He'd given her a grateful smile, and gave her his gratitude for her efforts. When, on the verge of tears, she'd yelled at him for being an idiot and walking around injured, he'd stumbled all over himself to stop her from crying and ended up giving her a rather awkward hug. They'd stood in silence in each other's accidental embrace for a while, wide-eyed and flustered, until Imu had separated herself from him, and demanded, in a rather comical and nonsensical fashion, his reason for being in a jeweler's shop ("W-why are you here in this shop w-were you trying to steal gems to feed your lonely penguin kittens goodbye?").

Elazul had looked confused but then explained that he'd stumbled into the building because he'd thought he felt the call of a Jumi. A Jumi with a wounded core would instantly seek out the Clarius, the Jumi who sheds healing tears, and that was what his had done. A Clarius was somewhere in the room, he believed; but there was no one. However, Elazul gravitated towards a small box on the counter, and had began speaking to it. Imu worried that he must have been in so much pain that his head had clouded over ("Laz, dear, you're now talking to a box. Come sit down before you start doing more than talking with it.") but he had brushed her aside and claimed that the box was it. They just needed to open it.

Imu, bemused, decided to humor him, and had (very forcefully) pried open the box. As soon as the lid had opened, it had sucked them in, and Imu, disoriented, found herself and Elazul in a small bedroom. The other inhabitant of the room, with long dark hair and flowing robes, sat in a bed in the middle. Unsurprised by their arrival, she'd introduced herself as Florina, the Clarius with the fluorite core, and had called Elazul over to her, as though she'd been expecting him. A moment later, the lapis knight stood straight and well, with the scratch on his core gone. But Florina had collapsed; the healing had drained her of energy. She called them close, and told them why she was there; Alex, the jewel merchant, had locked her in the box to hide her from the world. She then invited them into her memories— and then one moment they were in the room, and the next moment not.

The first thing Imu had opened her eyes to was a horrific scene where a Jumi was having his core pulled out by another person. Her mouth had opened in shock— what was this? It was then she realized that she was standing in the middle of a battlefield. It was obvious; greedy human pillagers versus the Jumi. There were screams and yells and pleas; there were dead men about, and dead Jumi without their cores. Imu stepped back; it was a terrible sight. This was Florina's memory? This was how the Jumi was before? Imu couldn't believe it. How can there be such cruel people? The scene faded away to show Florina, Lady Blackpearl, and Alex—he had a core on his chest—standing over the battlefield. "We must bring the injured to the Clarius… Most, if not all, guardians have lost their ability to shed tears," Blackpearl had said. "Why did the Jumi forget their tears?" whispered Alex. "…Was it because we cut our ties with the humans?"

A few more memories of battles and deaths; it looked like years and years have passed and each time, the number of Jumi in each memory lessened. A memory showed a young man, without a Jumi core (so Imu assumed him to be human), holding the hand of a withered looking female Jumi. "You're dying…" he'd said to the weakened female Jumi, "please… stop shedding your tears of life." The scene faded into more battles, and it showed that, slowly, only quite a few Jumi were finally left. Lady Blackpearl, Alex, and Florina stood amongst them. "We will close the city to the world. We must make our final stand." And the memory faded.

Then Imu again saw the young man from before hold a faded Jumi core close to his chest. "Bring her back," he'd said into the stone, and shed a tear. In an instant he had turned to stone, but the Jumi core in his hand glowed, and the next second, the formerly withered female Jumi stood next to him, looking healthier and livelier. Imu had wanted to see more, but the scene faded away. The female Jumi from the previous memory reappeared, alongside Florina. "You are now the Clarius. Heal the wounded with your tears, as I did before you," she'd said to Florina, and turned around, with tears in her eyes. "I am leaving to be with my love. Tell Blackpearl I am sorry. Take care, Florina." The memory again changed.

More memories showed Florina healing the wounded Jumi, with Blackpearl standing by her side. Alex had looked like he disapproved of the arrangement. The next memory showed Blackpearl leaving. "I am going to find the sword of mana and end this conflict," she'd said to Alex, "you are now the Knight of the Clarius. Protect her with your life. I will find a way to protect the Jumi and the seat of the Clarius." And then Blackpearl left as the memory faded. A few more memories followed, of Florina shedding tears and healing more of the wounded— but each time she was shown to be growing weaker and weaker, and her core started to show less and less shine. Finally, the last memory showed Alex turning into Sandra, and taking Florina away from the Bejeweled City. "You will no longer shed your tears for others at the cost of your life," she'd said angrily, "One thousand Jumi cores will heal your faded core, and you will be better once more. I shall get rid of all the Jumi that can't shed tears!" And the memory was over. Imu then found herself back in small room, standing beside Elazul. He looked like he'd been hit by a tornado; Imu felt like she'd been put in a blender.

Florina laid in her bed, gasping for breath. Her core had faded even more after she showed them her memories. She told them that Alexander, or Alex, _or Sandra, _(Imu was really confused which) had spent hundreds of years collecting Jumi cores. He needed one thousand Jumi cores to sacrifice for her dying core. Alex never heeded Florina's pleas to stop, and so she was glad that Elazul had found her. She hurriedly gave Imu the Jumi Staff ("It will lead you to the Bejeweled City."), and had told them to stop Alexander from taking any more lives. Elazul bowed before her, and left off with Imu to the Bejeweled City.

The city was the same as it looked like in Florina's memories. Huge shining gems studded each and every corner of the roads, the buildings, the posts. It was silent, however, and felt more like a ghost town than a city. The wind that blew through the city was cold and daunting. Elazul had never been to the city, he'd told Imu. He didn't think it had existed. Yet there they were, going through gate after gate, in search of Alexander. Once they reached the door to the final room—

"Imu, you must consider now, if you want to cut ties with us," he'd said to her, as he stared at the door to the Room of the Clarius. "…I shouldn't have brought you into this."

"You're kidding, right?" she'd replied, dubious. "I can't stop now— we're almost at the finish line. It's way too late to ask me to back down now, stupid. Come on—" Imu opened the door of the Clarius to confront Sandra or Alex _or Alexander_, for the final time "—_let's mosey._"

Inside the room, a strange fish creature stood beside Sandra, and she held a beautiful white stone that looked all too familiar to both Imu and Elazul. Imu's blood ran cold when she saw it— it was unmistakably Pearl's core. She felt Elazul's anger emanate from him. "_You monster!_" he'd shouted at Sandra, who merely sneered at him, "what have you done with Pearl!" He lunged at Sandra, only to stop as the fish person staggered forward. He introduced himself as the Lord of Jewels; he said he had _all_ the Jumi cores inside him. He needed two more to be able to save Florina. Sandra then stepped forward, and fed the Lord of Jewels Pearl's core. Imu had to rush forward and hold Elazul back; he had been about to attack them blindly.

"One more," the Lord of Jewels had said. Imu instinctively moved in front of Elazul protectively in case Sandra planned to take his core, but there was no need. Sandra, herself, took out her own core and gave it to the Lord of Jewels. "Please save Florina, master," were her final words. Imu couldn't believe it; she heard Elazul give a choked gasp behind her. Sandra must have really wanted to save Florina. She sacrificed herself as the final Jumi, all for the sake to save Florina.

But the Lord of Jewels didn't seem like it had wanted the Jumi cores to save Florina. Only a few seconds after he had swallowed Sandra's core, he started to (laughingly) transform, very grotesquely, into a huge, floating whale creature. He expressed sentiments of ruling Fa'Diel; he had finally gathered enough power from all the Jumi cores he had devoured. Elazul was beyond furious. "What about Florina? _What about our lives?_" he had shouted as he rushed forward to attack. Imu followed suit, but for some reason, she already felt like they had lost.

The battle had taken quite a while. The Lord of Jewels looked like he didn't have any weaknesses, until Imu found a stone embedded on the monster's forehead that looked very much like a Jumi core. Despite the Lord of Jewels being the mastermind behind the Jumi murders, Elazul still refused to smash the core. "I can't hurt my own kind," he'd said, horrified. It was up to Imu to to finish the job— and once she had destroyed the core, the Lord of Jewels vanished, defeated, in thin air. And that was that.

For a few moments, Elazul and Imu had expected something grand to happen; the Jumi coming back to life, perhaps, or their cores reappearing… maybe even Florina entering the room and telling them there were still in her memory. But none of these happened; it was _just over_.

And Imu realized what had happened— she had failed. This outcome would not have been so if she'd been able to save Rubens the first time, if she'd been able to protect Esmeralda, if she'd been able to stop or capture Sandra ever since she first appeared. She'd naively thought that letting Sandra get away would be of no consequence; but she was wrong. She had agreed to help, but she had done nothing. She had been _stupid_. She let herself be blinded by her idealistic beliefs— that all things will eventually turn out for the better. None of them did. Every Jumi in her path had died, even Pearl.

She couldn't look Elazul in the eye. She felt for him; he was alone now. All he had left was Florina, and she too was about to die. Elazul no longer had a guardian; soon, there will be only him in the world. One Jumi in the whole world. Imu shuddered. To be so alone, it would be painful. She knew she was about to cry— how could she not? After all that had happened, she would be heartless if she didn't cry. She wasn't sure she could stop herself either. If she cried, won't it be useful? She could fix one last thing for Elazul…

Imu recalled the man in Florina's memories. He had shed a tear for a Jumi, and had brought her back. She could do that for Elazul— she could bring back Pearl for him. She knew Elazul would need Pearl more than her. They could both start anew, as two Jumi. She didn't want him to be alone, like she had been all her life…

Elazul then called her name.

—_**x—**_

"D' temple idiot's in Gato Grottoes! Hide yo' food! Hide yo' wine! Hide yo' livestock!"

Those were the words that greeted Imu and Elazul when they arrived in the grottoes. A young monk, who had been one of the people attending to Imu when she had lived in the grottoes, was the one who had screamed and ran across the grottoes as soon as he spotted her. It was quite an amusing sight.

"Aw, well, at least they know we're here," said Imu, smiling. She stretched her arms over her head lazily, and placed her hands behind her head. "That gives them a head's start on preparing a feast for the arrival of their favorite little me!"

"Do you _only_ think about food?" said Elazul dubiously. "And what— 'favorite little you'? You were just called a 'temple idiot'."

"No, silly weasel, sometimes I think about nice male abs," she replied shamelessly, wiggling her fingers at him, "and for your information, it's a pet name. I don't think they really think I'm an idiot."

Elazul just stared at her. They walked through the grottoes in short silence, then— "No," he finally said, "I'm sure they do."

"Oh _my_, Laz! You were certainly fast with that remark there."

"Shut up."

"Hah! _Now_ who's the idiot?"

Elazul glared. Imu took that as a signal to quiet down, and she did, but she had a goofy grin on her face. She'd won— that would be one point for her, and… a couple hundred for him. But she'd make a huge comeback one day. It was only a matter of time.

There was no feast when they arrived at the Temple of Healing. A few nuns had greeted Imu upon her arrival, but nothing too warm of a welcome. In fact, other than greeting them, the nuns had generally left them alone to stand there while they prayed and did their temple duties. It took only a minute before Elazul had started tapping his foot on the ground, his arms crossed over his chest with a frown. She had always known that he was the impatient type; he always ran head on into things, she mused. She then decided to wait a while before doing anything, just to annoy him. It worked for a while, and as time ticked by, the Jumi knight looked like he was about to pull his hair out. But then, she too started to get impatient. No one really paid them any attention. How could they treat their guest of honor this way? That's cold of them.

"Where are Daena and Escad?" Imu asked a passing nun after a few moments of waiting. "We kinda need to—"

"Ah, so it's true," said a familiar voice abruptly from behind them, interrupting her, "the temple idiot has returned."

Imu turned around happily; she knew that voice. It was, undoubtedly, Escad. It hadn't been that long since she last saw him, but he looked a tad different, she decided. He looked a bit more cheerful, if that was even possible. He stood behind them, arms crossed over his chest, with a hint of a smile on his face; _as far as a smile could go in his face anyway_, Imu thought to herself. "I see you brought a friend," he said, pointing his chin at Elazul. The Jumi knight simply stared back.

Imu smiled brightly as an idea popped into her head. She'd just realized what a good development this was. Daena and Escad were two of the few people that Elazul hadn't met with her— once she introduced him to her two closest friends, they could be an "awesome threesome" (she failed to realize at first that a threesome would be missing one person). She thought about it; it sounded like fun. They could hang out in her home, or in the grottoes, and share drinks and stories, just like the group of friends she'd read in books. They could travel the world together, hand in hand, with smiles on their faces… or maybe that was going too far. She couldn't imagine Elazul and Escad holding hands and smiling— the thought actually made the hair rise at the back of her neck. Maybe they could just be friends? That would be better. She decided that now was a good time to form this group… discreetly, of course.

She cleared her throat. "This is Elazul, my partner-in-crime," she said to Escad, holding her hands out to Elazul as though she was introducing something grand. "You can call him Laz—"

"You may not," Elazul interjected unhappily, his eyes looking to the side.

"And Laz, this frowny guy is Escad," Imu continued, holding her hands out grandiosely to Escad as well. "You guys should get along well, you kinda resemble each other— with your faces all scrunched up like you've just swallowed a popo bug." She scrunched up her face with her hands. "Rike dish."

There was an awkward silence after the introductions. Neither man seemed to want to make the first move or say the first word to the other. They just stood there, their faces set in their usual scowls, quietly appraising each other. Imu worriedly stared between them, her face still scrunched up with her hands. What was wrong with them? Did she say something wrong? Pearl and the twins had always liked her 'popo bug face' joke. Or maybe she introduced them the wrong way? They didn't even look at her, she observed dejectedly as she let her face go. What a couple of killjoys.

When Imu decided to leave them alone and tore her eyes away from them, she spotted Daena just coming out from the opposite hallway. "Daena!" she called, running over to meet her, glad to have an excuse to leave the unexplainable building tension. "I missed you," she added unabashedly, grinning.

"Imu," greeted Daena, smilingly patting her head. "I'd say it's a pleasant surprise, but I heard you were back before you even got here." She let out a short giggle. "You definitely have the whole temple up on their toes for you. I don't think anyone's forgotten some of the nastier things you've done."

"_Oh please_, it's not like I blew up anything," Imu scoffed playfully, "you guys are just too uptight."

"Perhaps," quipped Daena, her smile wider. "How have you been? I take it that this isn't just a regular visit?" She looked over Imu's shoulder. "I see you have a friend with you… _what_ exactly are they doing there?"

"Mm, yeah," said Imu, glancing back at the two young men at the other side of the room. She really didn't understand what they were doing either. She'd hoped Daena would have been able to tell her. "Maybe they're having a secret 'manly time' moment," she whispered loudly, pointing her thumb in their direction. "I'll introduce you."

She took hold of Daena's wrist before she could respond, and brought her towards the other two. She forced Elazul around towards them. "Laz, this is Daena. She's the acting high priestess of this temple," said Imu proudly. She had such high-class friends, she thought. "Daena, this is Elazul. He likes ponies."

The said liker of ponies sent her an embarrassed glare that could have been a verbal "Shut up." before nodding towards Daena.

"Ah, yes, she's told me about you," said Daena, hiding her amused smile as she held out her hand for Elazul to shake, "welcome to the Temple of Healing."

"Thank you," said Elazul formally, taking Daena's hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Abbess." Imu grinned proudly beside her.

Daena gave a soft laugh. "I'm not the actual Abbess, but thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"We're looking for someone," said Imu, exchanging looks with Elazul, "a Jumi."

"A Jumi?" said Daena, and she paused for a while as if to think. "I'm sorry… I don't think there's one here."

Elazul frowned. "But we heard there was. A letter from a jewel thief came here, didn't it?"

"Something about a flame of hope," Imu piped up.

"Are you talking about Rubens?" asked Escad as he sidled next to Imu. She gave him a playful bump with her elbow, which he returned with a feigned look of boredom. Elazul seemed to be watching them with a strange look on his face; it reminded Imu of a boink… or its butt.

"Rubens? You mean the fire keeper?" said Daena with furrowed eyebrows, turning all their attention to her. "I don't think he's a Jumi…"

"He's got that flame thing going on, though," said Escad, gesturing at his head with his hand.

"Maybe we can just go talk to him?" Imu suggested. "Elazul would know if he were a Jumi or not. They've got those core sensors—" she motioned to her chest "—pretty cool." Elazul nodded quietly, but he still seemed to be watching Escad distractedly.

"Well if it's just to talk to him, you can usually find him up the cliffs," said Daena helpfully. "He's not unfriendly, so I don't think it would be a problem."

"Cliffs?" asked Imu. She didn't remember ever going to any cliffs when she was here. Just the tunnels, the Cancun bird nest, and the temple. Now that she thought about it… how can she not have gone to any cliffs? Gato was named a "cliffside" town after all. She felt rather stupid.

"I'll take you," said Escad, casually putting a hand on her shoulder. Imu noticed that he gave a sidelong glance towards the silent Elazul, whose eyes narrowed at them… or Escad— she couldn't really tell. All these nonverbal cues must be that quiet male communication that Bud told her about ("Us men can speak with our eyes! We have no need for words!"). She pouted a little with envy. She wished she could talk to Daena, Pearl, or Lisa with just her eyes. It would save her a lot of breath and spit.

"Alright, thank you, Daena," said Elazul, bowing his head slightly to her. Imu also noticed that he seemed to have deliberately ignored Escad's offer. "We'll be going now."

Daena smiled warily. "You're welcome," she replied, but Imu _also _noticed that she was looking at Escad.

She looked at the three of them, confused. Did she just miss something?

—

Down the path, Imu decided to start talking nonstop. It had become her habit to talk about everything under the sun whenever she was with company; the more people to listen to her, the better. After all the time she spent without anyone to talk to and anyone to listen to, she found chatting about various things rather enjoyable. She also noticed how gravely serious her two friends were, so she decided to lighten up the mood. The topic she chose for the moment was Escad.

"'Scad, have you ever thought of changing attires? How long have you been wearing those? _Twenty years?_ Geez. They look so tight. And _small._"

"…"

"How about your hair? It's really long and messy. You're starting to look like a blond porcupine. Didn't I tell you to get a haircut, like, seventy times?"

"…"

"Your sword looks like it's getting rusty too, have you even been using it? Who was the one that told me to train every day so that my spear wouldn't rust? What kind of knight are you?"

"You just _hate_ everything about me, don't you?"

"Well, no." Pause. "I rather like your nose and your abs."

"_What_!" Escad and Elazul exclaimed, the former quite red, and the latter looking horrified.

"What," she said quickly, wide-eyed and surprised at their outburst, "I like your abs too, Laz, no need to get snippy." She didn't know abs were a sensitive topic for males around other males. She should probably be careful next time. Bud made it sound like it was the ultimate compliment though, and she really did like nice male abs— she wouldn't be able to say no if someone told her to touch theirs.

And then she realized something; she promptly frowned. "What's wrong with you two? You won't greet each other earlier, but now you're in synchro-speak? Did I miss something? Did you have one of those male only through-the-eyes moments of bonding that women like me wouldn't understand? Did you have a silent agreeme—"

"You really need to stop talking," said Elazul, just as Escad said, "I really wouldn't classify you as a woman."

"See? _Synchro-speak!_" she exclaimed, pointing at them. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You guys are definitely up to something… You know, I heard that if you get too close to manly vibes, you'd get pregnant." She stepped away from them, brows furrowed, and eyes suspicious. "I…I'm going on ahead— it's just right up the path, right?" And quickly she made her escape.

The first thing she noticed when she arrived at the place was that no one was there. The second thing she noticed was that the cliff had a nice view of the waterfalls. A _very _nice view. There was also a very pleasant breeze that blew through the place; Imu thought it felt sort of "holy". She ran to the edge and took a great whiff of the air. It smelled of water, and grass, and leaves, and flowers, and _life_. Why hadn't she seen this place before? It was marvelous.

The world really was a beautiful place, she concluded. She was glad that she discovered it. She couldn't imagine living her life without these sights, these sounds, these scents, and these sensations. All these things were what she'd been missing her whole life.

She vaguely felt her two companions arrive at the cliffs. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said to them, smiling. They stood a ways behind her quietly, looking at the view. She grinned, grabbed their wrists, and pulled them at the edge of the cliff, to either side of her. "Look at this view! It's beautiful. And smell that air, it's _wonderful_. I feel like the king of the world up here!" She opened her arms wide to the open space, and deeply breathed the air.

"I think you've sniffed too much air, Imu," said Elazul.

"The height must be muddling your brain," added Escad.

She grinned to herself. "_May_be," she said in a singsong voice. Standing there with her closest friends made her feel warm and light. The world felt like it was right, as though nothing was amiss. It was a fantastic feeling, to stand there peacefully, just appreciating the view, just reveling in one another's presence. Elazul and Escad said nothing else as they stood there, watching the clouds and the waterfall and feeling the wind as it blew against their faces. Quietly, she took their hands and held them in hers, and smiled contentedly.

She felt like she was exactly where she belonged.

* * *

><p><em>All those days watching in the windows<br>All those years outside looking in  
>All that time never even knowing<br>Just how blind I've been  
>Now I'm here blinking in the starlight<br>Now I'm here suddenly I see  
>Standing here it's all so clear<br>I'm where I'm meant to be_

"_I See the Light" - Tangled_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:<strong>_ Refer to previous chapter.

I've always preferred the crack pairing of EscadxElazul. So I couldn't stop myself from adding a little Rival!FoeYay in there. Also, I always rather liked ElazulxPearl and HeroxHeroine. ExHxE is a pretty hot love triangle though. And I'm slowly falling in love with the Elazulxheroine pairing. :'D

As a side note, this will be the only Imu-centric chapter (covering 2 major arcs and some other quests) in a long while, so it's why it's so TL;DR. But thank you for reading it anyway! Please review! :3

—The Meibito (2011)


	3. his regrets

I curse this stupid Share thing to my right. Or _your_ right. Pfeh.

* * *

><p><strong>c: <strong>_**his regrets**_

**Elazul**

If he wasn't out looking for clues on how to revive her, he would always be found sitting in the room of the Clarius, staring up at Imu's stone form. He had already memorized every single detail of her profile— from the faint lines that showed above her nose because of her furrowed eyebrows, to the subtle pout in her lips that formed from her sad smile, to the hint of a dimple on her left cheek, to the single strand of hair that fell into her face when she'd bowed her head, and to the tension that her fingers showed as she seemingly clasped empty air. Time had stopped for her; things that he normally would have viewed in full movement stood still in the form of a stone. Like a pendulum that hung awkwardly in midair after it had stopped working, Imu's last second of life stood in front him as a statue.

Sometimes he felt like the statue was silently mocking him. The teardrop crystal that hung from her cheek was indeed beautiful and magnificent, yet it shone with life while the rest of her remained deathly still. There was a life inside that he could never reach, a spirit that was trapped within— he longed to let that spirit free, as it had always been meant to be. The statue was, to him, a symbol of his failure— no other mistake in his life could compare.

Every time he leaves he would give her face a gentle stroke, and he would whisper a soft "see you later". He inwardly wished he'd been this affectionate with her when she wasn't a stone; he would have loved to feel her warm skin under his hand, and perhaps see the slightest hints of a blush on her cheeks whenever his skin would make contact with hers. She'd never been too girly as to blush openly, he recalled, but whenever she did, he would always think that it was rather cute. He'd enjoyed making her flushed with anger on occasion for this very reason, and she was always none the wiser.

There were a lot of things he regretted not doing with her. He'd always considered her as special to him; he just never told her or let her know so. He naively thought that if he acted like she was only a regular person to him, she wouldn't feel attached to him and endanger herself. He'd distanced himself; hidden his true feelings to protect her. The statue told him that his efforts were in vain. He now wished that he didn't inhibit himself from making her feel the extent of how much she meant to him; Imu still became attached to him anyway— she'd even confessed that her _love_ for him. She'd _cried for_ _him_.

Did he love her? He wasn't sure. Imu was important to him, just like Pearl was important to him, only… slightly different. He just didn't know how. Pearl was like a sister to him, at least that was how he thought he would treat a sister if he had one. Imu was different; he'd never been able to explain what he felt for her. He liked her, that was certain; but the scope of it was lost on him.

He'd been fond of her from the very beginning; he'd been impressed with her strength, and had always felt calm and relaxed in her presence. There was a certain air about her that made him feel cheerful. She'd appreciated the world around her, and she'd loved to live her life. She had a pure heart, and everyone around her knew it. _He_ knew it. He'd come to rely on her for the very reason that she wasn't one to refuse; her choice would always be for others, not herself.

Elazul envied her freedom, and often he sought out her company only to revel in it. She always had the liberty to choose whatever she desired, to do whatever she wanted, and to show the world whatever she felt. Sometimes he wished he was free of obligations, and duties, and the fear of being alone, and to simply express himself— just like her, to be free of everything. Imu had been there to make him feel those things, even if they were only small, fleeting moments…

He missed those moments. He'd shared a lot with her and her with him. Every day was a good day in her company, regardless of whether they slept on the roadside, or starved almost to death, or chased out of towns, or just plain ran into trouble. Imu made it a point to make everything positive; it was a striking complement to how he viewed everything negatively.

"_If we get _too_ hungry, we can always eat Cloud!"_

"_You're horrible. How can you even think that about your pet?"_

"_What do you think I bring this chocobo around for? Emergency rations!"_

A sad smile spread across his face. She always had a joke for everything. How he wished she had a joke for this situation. How he wished there was no such situation in the first place.

"_I love you."_

…was that a joke too? He sighed heavily and held his head. No, it couldn't have been. How could he even think that? Imu wouldn't joke about something like that. She would always bluntly say that she missed him, or that she liked his eyes, or that he badly needed a bath, or that he looked like a boink's butt. She'd been painfully honest about everything— she'd never been the greatest liar.

But what did she mean? Did she love him as a brother, or as a friend? There was a part of him that wished she meant that as more than friends. Perhaps… as lovers. He visibly twitched at the thought of it. It was an odd euphoric feeling, regarding her that way, coupled with a dull ache in his chest.

Could they have gotten together?

Yes and no. Yes, because he could never have refused her, and no, because him being a Jumi would get in the way of it.

Lovers with Imu. He couldn't imagine. No. He very well could, but he couldn't bring himself to… to think of her that way… how it would feel like to hold her close, to weave his fingers through hers, to smell her hair, to give her a genuine smile as he leans down to meet his lips with hers—

"Agh!" he groaned out, curling into himself. What was he thinking? How could he even think about her that way? There was just no way. Being with her would put her life in jeopardy, if her situation now was any indication. The fact that he let this happen to her was already bad enough. What if… what if she'd become his and he'd only break her heart? What if he'd just lose her? What if all he'd bring to her were pain and suffering? Could he even make her happy?

But if she wasn't going to be his, then whose would she be? Would there be another man who'd take her?

He didn't even have to think about it. Of course there would. How could anyone possibly ignore someone like her? She was strong, reliable, bright, _amazing_, and… and a touch _adorable_. He couldn't be the only one in the world who thought of her that way. Surely, someone out there would want to be with her. Someone… someone better than him.

Elazul felt his heart shatter.

_Maybe I _do_ love her…_

It might have been great between them, if he had been honest with himself. He wouldn't be regretting a lot of things now, had he been true to what he felt about her. He should have told her that she was special to him; he should've touched her the way he always wanted to. He should've been nicer to her, or spent more time with her. He shouldn't have distanced himself the way he did. But now it was too late… way too late.

He felt his tears prickle through his eyes, reflecting the great pain that grew in his chest as he pondered. He could never stop his tears when it came to her; ever since he gained the ability to cry for the first time in his long life, it was practically all he did. Nobody blamed him or thought badly of him for it, but he thought it was rather humiliating. A Jumi knight, a symbol of strength and pride, reduced to crying his eyes out like this.

Shakily, Elazul stood from his spot, and gently placed a hand on Imu's stone face. His tears had started falling, and he made no effort to stop them. "What have you done to me?" he asked, without anger or malice.

"_I love you."_

The words rang in his head, as clear as crystal. He leaned forward, lightly laying his forehead to hers. "Imu…" The name felt wonderful on his lips. Too bad there was no one to answer his call. He swallowed, and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I miss you."

"_Laz, where have you been? I missed you!"_

"I've always been here," he replied to the brightly smiling Imu in his memory. "I'll always be here…" He slumped towards the ground, his arms wrapping around her waist as he did so. His body quivered as he wept into the statue's stomach, silently wishing, passionately hoping that his tears would bring her back, just like hers brought back the Jumi.

_Come back. Wake up. Please…_

But no matter how much he cried, no matter how many tears he shed, he could never bring back the moments he shared with her, or the person he shared it with. Memories that seemed so far away, yet so clear. His tears won't bring them back.

_They won't bring her back._

But he never stopped hoping. And believing.

—_**x—**_

"SUPER SPECIAL WHIRLWIND KICK ATTACK OMEGA!"

Elazul watched in awed silence as Imu flew dramatically, spinning, towards a gray ox— and missed her trajectory, crashing into a nearby tree. The frightened gray ox fled the scene with a howl just as Elazul hurried to her side, cursing under his breath.

"You _idiot_!" he'd spat when he reached her. "You should just stick to spears." He gingerly held her up and worriedly checked for injuries. She had quite a huge bump on her forehead and a slightly hazy look in her eyes; she was also holding her hip painfully. His brows furrowed, his insides twisting at the thought of her being hurt. "And you're supposed to hurt the enemy when you're attacking, not yourself."

"Yar, I shink yer rite," she slurred, her eyes looking past him dazedly. "Glurves're nawt kool." She grinned clumsily at him, before collapsing in a heap in his arms. His heart leapt to his throat; wasn't he supposed to keep her awake in case she had a concussion? Don't humans get problems if they go unconscious after head trauma? He lightly tapped her cheek to wake her up, but to no avail.

His eyes filled with worry; he decided that it would be better to try to heal her injuries in a safer place. He then carried her onto his back as he trekked through Lake Kilma's lakeside path. The trek was spent in silence, and he occasionally needed to dodge some wild monsters down the path. Imu sometimes mumbled something into his shoulder, and it felt like she drooled on his neck at some point. He worried that she may have become delusional from her concussion— until he heard her give a light snore. He sighed; he was scared out of his skin because she'd fainted, but it turned out she was only _sleeping_.

When they reached the bank of the lake, he gently laid her down the grass and rummaged in her satchel for some bandages and some cloth, or perhaps some candy (though knowing her, she'd probably already eaten them). After finding some bandages, he put them aside, and once again checked her for any more damage.

The huge red bump on her head looked very much real, and he was also worried about how she held onto her hip before. He would always forget how fragile humans were; he was never worried about him or Pearl getting small injuries because the Jumi instantly heal flesh wounds. He worried about broken bones and mortal wounds, though only because they take longer and hurt when they heal. He didn't know how it would feel like for humans; it must hurt a lot more and take even longer to heal. He heard that human injuries sometimes become permanent. He frowned at this thought. This stupid girl— what if she'd broken her hip?

He had hurriedly lifted her skirt right up to her waist, in worry of such an injury, before he realized what he was doing. He stopped, shocked, feeling as though he'd as good as killed her, and then dropped her skirt with a rather unmanly squeal. He felt his face go hot. What was he doing? _What was he doing?_

He regarded his hands for a few moments, stunned. He hadn't seen anything, had he? He shook his head; no, he hadn't. He sighed with relief. Imu was a young girl, and a chaste one, without a doubt. It wouldn't have been honorable if he had somehow defiled her by exposing himself to her bare skin, even more so by touching her inappropriately, injury or no. That wasn't his business, and it wasn't his place. He wouldn't have been able to look her in the eye ever again.

Yet his gaze lingered on the skirt that covered her upper thighs for quite a long while. He silently wondered (though also denied) what he could have seen. He'd never really paid any attention to her body unless she'd gotten wounded or done a really great (or stupid) stunt; and he'd never really found her desirable enough to wonder. She had nice skin, he observed. Much like Pearl's, only a bit more rosy. If he just touched—

He felt himself go redder at the thought. He shouldn't. He couldn't. This was not the time to think about such things. He'd lived the full eighty years of his life without these thoughts in his head— this was not the time to act like a hormonal human teenager.

He set his jaw, and approached Imu's prone figure tentatively. He would just see to her forehead, he decided. He would worry about her hip later, when she was awake…

Elazul sat quietly beside her after he'd bandaged her head, staring at the lake. And then he yawned, dimly realizing that he hadn't been able to get enough sleep. Abrupt camping was never his favorite, but Imu seemed to enjoy it. The girl had kicked him in her sleep last night more times than his actual hours of sleep. He blinked heavy eyelids, and decided to take a short nap. He laid beside the younger girl, and drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up a couple of hours later, he found that Imu had disappeared from his side. He scowled drowsily, a little panicked. Where had she gone? Did a monster abduct her? He cursed himself for falling asleep like that. Why did he always have to be so careless?

There was a small splash at the lake, and he looked over to find a strange golden thing bobbing on the surface. Familiar white sticks floated just around it. It took him a while to recognize it as the top of Imu's head. He then shot up from the ground, his heart beating erratically. She was in the lake! Had she drowned?

"Imu!" he called frantically, running towards the lake. At his call, her whole head emerged from the lake, her bright green eyes wide with surprise. He stopped abruptly at the edge of the water, simply to stare. So she hadn't drowned. He unknowingly placed a hand to his chest, heaving a great sigh of relief. _This girl is going to be the death of me_, he thought to himself.

"Oh, you're awake!" she said jovially. She fully came out of the lake, smiling, the water sloshing about her. "Thanks for bandaging my head. I feel better now."

"Don't mention it," he said distractedly. Something was strange. He was looking straight at her face, but his peripheral vision was telling him that something was amiss. _Something_… he cautiously lowered his gaze, and figured out exactly what the problem was.

He felt his face go so hot that it felt like it was going to melt. He fell back onto the ground and covered his face with his arms, panicking. "_Imu!_ For the love of mana, put some clothes on!" he screeched in a rather girlish tone.

"Huh? OH! _Oh_—" there was a bit of splashing to be heard, "—geez—" some scuffling on the grass, and then rustling of clothing being handled. "Sorry, Laz! Didn't mean for that to happen. I always forget that you're a guy."

He paused and considered that; how was he supposed to take that? What was he to her, a mere sack of citrisquids? He'd earlier worried about her chastity; and yet she had been swimming in the lake in his presence, _without her clothes on._ He didn't have to learn that his worries for her purity were unfounded in this manner! Surely, Goddess help him, there had to have been another way to convey this message to him, without showing him the girl's naked form. And she'd undressed beside him while he was sleeping, his thoughts added loosely.

He swallowed air, his mouth and throat feeling very much like a barren wasteland. Why was he was the one that felt rather violated?

"Sorry," he heard her say apologetically. Her tone was sincere. "You okay?" He felt her sit beside him.

He dropped his arms from his face and sat up. She'd just asked him if he was "okay". There… there was something terribly wrong with this situation— with this _girl._ It felt like their roles have switched; she should be the one shrieking in embarrassment in this situation. He should be the one apologizing. This was not how things were supposed to go. This was _not normal._

He turned to give her a half-hearted glare, his face still red. He was glad to see that she was finally clothed. "Are you really a girl?" he asked incredulously.

"Is that what you ask someone after you've seen them naked?" she joked, laughing slightly. She didn't even seem to care. He felt a bit faint. Just _who_ exactly was he dealing with? He really couldn't figure her out. "I don't think you really saw anything though," she said seriously, with a hint of smile.

He stopped, and stared at her. Now that he thought about it, it was true. He had fallen back from her before he could fully _see_ anything. He racked his head for details, yet there was none. He'd seen nothing. He just knew she was naked, but hadn't exactly _seen_ her so. Perhaps only the top of her shoulders and the top of her chest... but nothing hugely "important". He sighed with relief, feeling better. His eyes hadn't tainted her. Good.

Imu laughed loudly, and leaned backwards into the grass. "That's so cute!" she said. "You looked like a tomato man. So red!"

He scowled. This was what he got for worrying about her, for actually thinking about her honor? He only got laughed at and mocked. He was _definitely_ glad that he didn't see anything. He probably shouldn't even bother himself about it. Who would ever want to see her naked anyway?

But somehow, somewhere in the back of his head, he sort of wished he _did_ see something.

Elazul glanced at Imu warily. She, for some reason, had her tongue stuck out in the air, and was wiggling it. He recoiled. Strange, inexplicable behavior. How one could even regard this—this… _thing_ as a female was beyond his comprehension. She even seemed to be manlier than him at times. Or at the very least genderless. Like a blob, perhaps.

He would never regret not seeing her naked.

"Laaaaaaaaah," said Imu, her tongue further out in the air.

_Never._

—

A few days after the lake episode, Imu once again sought him out at Domina's tavern. It had become their designated meeting place, and Rachel had warmed up to him because he frequently bought food and drinks (mostly for Imu). He sat at his usual spot in the corner and, amused, watched Imu blunder through a table as she approached.

Rachel stood by his table expectantly with a smile on her face. Had he been so routinely treating Imu here to give her the impression that he would always buy something for her?

"I'd like some fried needlebeak with a side of mush-in-a-box salad please," Imu told the awaiting winged girl casually as she took her seat across from him. Rachel gave an enthusiastic "yes!" and bounded off to prepare her order.

"I suppose I'm paying for that one?" said Elazul unenthusiastically.

"Why, of course, you silly goose," said Imu with a wave of her hand. "I'm broke because I bought this new sword." She placed a huge, double-handed sword on top of the table. "It's so pricey, but I really wanted to try it out."

Elazul pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "You, broke? Why am I not surprised?" he said dryly. "That aside, didn't we agree to stick with the spear?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But look at this!" She pushed the sword towards him excitedly. "It looks so big and powerful. I bet I can _destroy_ monsters with this!"

He sighed. He really didn't know why he bothered. He should be used to her fickleness by now; she'd tried out all sorts of weapons when she saw them for sale in the shop. The last time it was a pair of gloves at Lake Kilma. An axe, a few days before that. Knives, a week before. A flail, the week before that.

"Look at this girth! Impaling this into something would probably feel _good_," she continued to gush, lightly stroking the sword. "People always say that size doesn't matter— but in this case, it definitely does!"

He had to admit, she handled the weapons pretty well for someone who'd never even seen them. She would only run into trouble when she decided that inventing various moves in mid-fight would be "cool", not unlike the lake incident. The last few times, she had hit her face with the flail, almost impaled him with a knife, and chopped a tree in someone's backyard with the axe (which also almost killed the monster egg she was trying to catch). She could be an incredible warrior if she only stopped her crazy antics, he mused.

When Rachel arrived with the food, Imu immediately forgot about the sword. It lay forgotten on his side of the table as she started devouring her meal. Elazul automatically reached into his pocket and placed the necessary lucre in Rachel's outstretched hand. The winged girl gave him a smile and scampered off. He sighed; when had he become reduced to this? He felt like he was Imu's keeper.

He watched Imu quietly as she gobbled up her food. In the lull of simply watching her engorge herself (in a very manly fashion), he began to consider his current relationship with her. They had been around each other for quite a while; about a bit less than three months. Ever since he met her, there was hardly a time that they were apart. He'd approached her at least twice in the first couple of weeks to look for Pearl; she was always getting lost. Imu approached him for a variety of things after that; he'd never been able to refuse her. It was his thanks for her help.

He genuinely thought that she hated him at first; she was such an open book, so her emotions were relatively easy to read. She'd glared at him, or stuck her nose up at him, or sometimes regarded him disapprovingly. Though lately, she only had smiles and jokes and laughter for him. She had become casual around him; she even nicknamed him "Laz".

Were they getting too close to each other? Perhaps. He felt at ease with her. He felt quite cheerful as well. Around her, he felt like there was no room for sadness, or anger, or despair. There was only simple fun and contentment. There was no question about it; Pearl, herself, had noticed each time he would come back to the inn.

"Did you have a great time?" Pearl would always ask with a soft smile after he'd come back from a stint with Imu. His guardian would smilingly compliment his aura, and would ask about Imu and what they did, and express happiness that he was being friendly with other people. Although it wasn't other people per se, only Imu. The only people he considered friends— they would be Imu and Pearl. He would sometimes find both girls outside Domina's inn or in the marketplace, chatting about various things merrily. They were also very good friends, and he was glad to see Pearl having fun. Imu had become close to both of them.

"So the other day, I caught an aerial egg in Luon," she said, waving her fork at him and sending bits of food in his direction. "Rabite's gonna be so happy to get someone to graze with and…" He let her words go through one ear and the other while he pondered.

Perhaps they were becoming _too_ close. He frowned, and felt a bit of a dull ache in his chest. This wasn't good for her— she shouldn't associate with him or Pearl. He was a Jumi, and she was a human. They'd cut ties with humans for a reason. He felt guilt weigh on his shoulders. If something were to happen to her, it would be because of him. Because he had not stayed away from her.

"Hey, Laz, you listening?" said Imu, cutting through his thoughts. She put her face close to his, eyes curious. He drew back, surprised.

"Sorry," he said automatically. "What were you saying?"

Imu leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing him warily. Then she smiled— it looked like she'd forgiven him for letting his attention waver. He noticed, unsurprised, that her plate had already been cleared of everything. "I was _saying_ we should go do something about that pumpkin army at the end of Domina."

"Pumpkin army?" he asked distractedly. His thoughts were still about his relationship with her. He had to part ways with her, and soon. Any more of this and he would be looking at a stone version of her. The thought made his blood run cold. She didn't deserve that; he didn't want to see that.

After today, he would disappear from her life. That was what he decided.

For her sake.

—

It had been a long time since he and Pearl have left Domina. They'd spent quite a while traveling by themselves. It had been quiet with just the two of them. Sometimes, Pearl would mention Imu and express desire to see her again. Elazul promised that yes, they'll go see her soon. He just didn't know when, or even if they really would. They would put Imu in danger— that was for certain. He didn't want that. Imu was a good person; she would definitely get attached to them, if she wasn't already, and if something happens…

He refused to think about it. Sometimes he wished he'd never met her, and he knew that was the wrong thing to wish. He would take it back the moment his wish sunk in. He couldn't imagine Imu's inexistence in his life. In the short while that he and Pearl knew her, she'd immediately crawled her way into their hearts. And if he hadn't met her, he wouldn't have found Pearl. He would've been alone.

He and Pearl stayed in Polpota for a while, and although there would be times when an air of discontentment permeated in the silence they spent together, he tried his best to ignore it. He felt bad steering Pearl away from her only other friend and he admittedly also yearned for her as well. But it was for the best. Imu would be able to live her life freely this way. He and Pearl would only be excess baggage to her.

Polpota Harbor was a much busier place than Domina, and had a very nice view of the sea. There were different kinds of people every day because of several ships docking, and Elazul felt rather suffocated in the crowds. The amount of strangers made him feel anxious; some of these people sometimes eyed him too much, and he often felt their gazes linger on his core. So when he heard the news of a Jumi murder in Lumina from Inspector Boyd, he was beside himself with fear. A Jumi murderer? It had never been easy to kill a Jumi, unless one knew _how_ to, and most people nowadays never bothered with the Jumi or their cores; at least, from his experience, and from the way current people regarded him and Pearl neither as walking jewelry nor as prized bounties (most of the time). They had become a part of the crowd, though with a bit of reluctance from the crowd itself.

There was also fact that Inspector Boyd had stationed himself in Polpota Harbor. It was alarming. It could very well mean that his investigation had led him to Polpota, which meant that the Jumi murderer could just be around the corner. He had never encountered anyone with the sole intent of killing him as a Jumi; monsters he could handle, whether small or huge or demi-human, he could protect himself and Pearl. But something like this…

He felt ashamed. He lacked the confidence to protect himself and Pearl from such an adversary. Someone being after their cores and attacking them specifically for that reason made his stomach churn with insecurity. He knew he couldn't do it alone— he couldn't very well protect Pearl and look for other Jumi by himself in these conditions. He needed help. And he cursed under his breath when he realized where his thoughts were going.

_I need Imu._

She was his only other friend in the world; there was no one else he could rely on. At times like these, she was the only one he could run to. She couldn't refuse them. She wouldn't.

At least, that was what he told himself. He was definitely not making any excuses just to see Imu again, he decided firmly. He and Pearl were merely in a tight spot. That was all.

Yet, he knew, despite his denial, that those were excuses, as well as truths.

When he told Pearl that they were going back to Domina, she'd given him the brightest smile he'd ever seen on her face in years. He supposed he should be jealous; he'd never been able to make her smile that way, not directly. She was really happy to go back, and didn't care for the reason. Not that he would ever tell her that a Jumi murderer was about. She didn't need to know about such things.

"Elazul's gone back to his senses," she'd said quietly when they left for Domina. Whether or not she'd intended for him to hear was not the problem; it was her words. What did she mean he'd 'gone back to his senses'? He never recalled losing them. He wanted to ask her what she meant, but held his words back. He'd always let his guardian think to herself; he never pried or asked too much. Pearl could just tell him whenever she was ready.

Elazul was vigilant during their trip. He hardly slept, although he ate regularly despite his loss of appetite, only to appease his guardian. He was afraid that the Jumi murderer would just be around the corner, waiting behind a boulder or hiding behind some bushes. He knew he was being too paranoid, but he couldn't help it. He was fairly good with a sword, that was established, but he had never been one of the Jumi that fought off core hunters. That was before his time.

Domina was the same when they returned. The same homey air, the same calm atmosphere, and the same crowd of familiar faces milling about the place greeted them. Pearl was undeniably happy; she'd rushed into the inn and into their room before he'd finished checking in. He smiled a little. At least she was happy.

He entered the tavern and sat at his usual corner, prompting Rachel to approach him. But she wasn't smiling expectantly. In fact, she looked rather depressed.

"Imu's gone," she said solemnly.

"What do you mean she's _gone_?" he asked hurriedly, dreading the worst. Had she died? Was it because he wasn't there to watch over her? The girl tended to get into all sorts of stupid situations— did she impale herself with a sword or crack her head open with a flail? Where was he to make sure she didn't injure herself? How could he leave her alone like that, knowing that she could very well kill herself accidentally? He felt like he was going to be sick. He put his head in his hands, feeling miserable. She was gone. _Had she died?_

"Nobody's seen her for weeks…" answered Rachel with a far off tone. "Her apprentices went around town looking for her earlier, saying she hasn't come home in a long while."

He looked up at the winged girl, his eyes hopeful. "…So she's not dead?"

"Oh no, I hope not," she replied rather forcefully. "She's run up quite a tab here, so she better not be dead."

Elazul stared. Rachel stared. A heavy silence hung over the two of them.

"This tab… I'm not paying for it, am I?"

"…she did mention something along the lines of 'when Elazul comes back, he'll pay for these' once."

"…"

He was livid when he left the tavern. He'd paid about two thousand lucre for all the food that Imu had consumed. He didn't know why he felt obliged to pay, but he did. He felt responsible for her, in a strange way. Still, that didn't stop him from being angry with her.

But at the same time, he was relieved. At least she was alive, or known to be. It would be easier to kill her if she were alive anyway, he thought furiously.

He spent the next couple of days asking around Domina if they'd heard news of Imu. He got different answers, and different versions of how they'd seen her last. Some said they last saw her lying on the side of the road looking starved, while some _swore_ that they saw her flying across the sky on a huge bird. Others thought she'd died, while others complained about some of the things she did when she was last there. Breaking someone's window with an encyclopedia, running into a fruit cart while riding a chocobo, touching random people's abdomen, and generally disrupting the peace were some of the things that she was apparently responsible for. He felt pretty stupid for jumping to the conclusion that she'd died. There was no way someone like that could just easily pass away.

Finally, he found Imu in Domina's marketplace, four days after he'd started asking around for her. She was chatting animatedly with the fruit fortuneteller Meimei when he spotted her. He would have been able to approach her calmly and casually had she not looked like she'd been horribly mangled in many different ways. She had bandages on her legs, arms, and over her head and eye. Her left arm was on a sling, and she was leaning awkwardly on one leg. It made him angry. His chest heaved as he took deep, heated breaths, trying to calm himself.

He'd stomped towards her before he realized what he was doing. His mouth had opened and, without thinking, he'd shouted, "You _idiot_! Where have you been?"

The market crowd around him grew eerily quiet. Several eyes fell on him. Imu turned around, her mouth in the shape of an O. She made to step towards him, looking somewhat wobbly, and opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

"What happened to your arm what's wrong with your eye why is it bandaged why are you limping is that a scar on your leg why do you look like a mummy _what happened_?" he asked frantically, all in one breath, as he thoroughly looked her over. He noticed the bruises and little wounds around her shoulders and face. It looked even worse up close, he concluded with a scowl.

There was a short moment of silence after this, until Imu started giggling. He stared, confused. This was no laughing matter.

"Laz, where have _you_ been? I missed you!" she said, smiling widely.

He paused, mouth halfway opened. He didn't know how to respond. He _did_ miss her too; but he felt that saying so would be inappropriate. He just opted to stare at her blankly, setting his lips in a straight line.

Her smile faded slightly. "What?" she said, a bit nervously. "Don't just leave me hanging— say something."

He turned his eyes away, lips pursed. He didn't like how his inaction resulted in her bright smile fading. He felt like saying that he missed her too, if only to put it back on her face… No. He couldn't say that to her. It would just add to their degree of closeness. If he acted disinterested, she would be turned off by his presence. Perhaps she might even dislike him again or at least feel like she had no obligation to be close to him. That was for the best, he decided. He tried to ignore the slight burning in his chest that came with those thoughts.

"O_kaaaay_…" said Imu slowly after the lengthy silence between them. "I guess maybe you don't want to talk here?" Most of the market crowd had stopped staring, but the few that knew them both were still watching them curiously. She grabbed his arm, and he saw that she'd started smiling again. He felt the corners of his lips turn upward with relief, but he stopped them. "Let's go to the pub! You can treat me the deluxe springanana split that I could never afford."

He sighed, and let the girl pull him through the crowds. It felt great being in her company again, though he would never tell her that. But he supposed it wouldn't hurt to buy her a treat or two. It _had_ been a long time, and he was going to be imposing on her goodwill again anyway (he conveniently forgot about the accumulated tab he had to pay four days prior). He just had to act like he didn't care, he decided grimly. Keeping his distance from her emotionally was the key to her safety. He told himself these, quite repeatedly, as they entered the tavern, and sat down at their usual table.

As Imu ate her springanana split, Elazul explained his (and Pearl's) current situation. About the Jumi murderer, and their reason for traveling. He told her about how unsafe he felt for himself and Pearl, and how they couldn't find other Jumi, despite the fact that they'd been traveling for a long while. Then, he asked for her help.

She agreed without a second thought, just as he knew she would. She even offered her home and her apprentices for Pearl. Relief washed over him. As well as thankfulness for her.

"I'm eternally grateful," he said to her, smiling evenly.

"You can tell me that when we're done with all this," she responded blithely, a bit of melted ice cream dribbling down her chin. He bit the inside of his cheek at the sight. On impulse, he took one of the tissues set in middle of the table.

"Goddess, Imu," he said reproachfully as he reached over to wipe her chin with the tissue. "When are you ever going to act like a lady your age?"

"We can have this conversation in two years," she said, swatting his hand away playfully and taking another tissue for herself. "And I think I'm lady-like enough, thank you very much." She then made a show of gently dabbing at her chin, placing the tissue carefully on the table, and lightly taking a small bit of ice cream into her mouth, with her pinky up the whole time, to emphasize her point.

The implication made him laugh and he tried to stop it, and ended up snorting through his nose rather painfully and unattractively. Imu held no such reserves and laughed at him loudly into her spoon. He gave her a weak glare, his fist covering his mouth. He knew he should feel affronted, but all he could feel at the moment was a blissful feeling bubbling in chest.

He knew he would one day regret approaching her again. But right now, he was glad for her help.

He was glad to be with her again.

—

"Do you think I could have done something?"

Elazul raised his head at the sound of Imu's weak voice. The small temple room echoed the hollowness in her voice. This was the first time he'd ever heard the life sapped from her tone, and he decided that he didn't like it. She sounded completely dejected, sitting beside him on the bed, curled up in a ball with her chin on her knees. She looked smaller than she used to, and for the time, she also looked and felt quite fragile. It reminded him all too well of the reality that Imu was, in fact, still a child.

They had failed to save Rubens. He was murdered just as quickly as they'd found him. It was almost like Sandra, the jewel thief, had made them fall into a false sense of security and relief, and then yanked it all from underneath them as though to show that their efforts were pointless. Almost like a very elaborate taunt. He'd merely been angry the first time they'd encountered her in Polpota when she stole the sapphire core from Basketfish, yet now, after seeing a fellow Jumi get murdered so easily in front of him, he was filled with such a vast sea of emotions that all he could do was sit down with his head in his hands. He felt anger, sadness, disappointment, uselessness, hopelessness… the list could go on.

In all his sulking, he hadn't been able to pay any attention to Imu, who was with him the whole time, and he was thus relatively surprised to see, for the first time since the incident, that she was actually affected. He didn't know what to do or say— he couldn't even remember what she'd asked. He then opted to say meaningless words, hoping to appease her, "It's going to be alright."

"M'kay," she mumbled, and drew her legs even closer to her body. He knew he'd answered her incorrectly, and he felt guilty that he hadn't even listened to her. He wasn't the only one in pain because of Ruben's death. He should've known that. It was Imu herself that promised to protect him; his death must be harder on her. She'd probably never even witnessed a murder before this.

An uncomfortable silence settled over them after that. Elazul felt like pulling his hair out in frustration. Not at her, but at himself. Or maybe at her as well. She was so emotional about something that shouldn't concern her. He dreaded that she might even start crying. Who told her to get tangled in his affairs anyway?

…oh right, that would be him. He now really wanted to pull his hair out.

"There aren't any traces left of her," said a calm voice from the door. Both looked up to find Escad standing at the door, a scowl on his face. Despite Elazul's earlier unexplainable dislike for the other man, he appreciated his efforts to help them. "Looks like nobody witnessed her enter the grottoes, and nobody besides us saw her leave. It's like she simply appeared and vanished in thin air."

Imu gave a soft whimper but said nothing. She hid her face into her knees, her shoulders tense. Elazul's breath caught in his throat; the sight made his chest feel constricted. He bit the inside of his cheek rather forcefully and contemplated on laying his hand on her shoulder or patting her back or squeezing her arm, small alternatives to what he really wanted to do, which was to give her a small, comforting embrace. But his hesitation took too long, and as the grave silence grew so heavy that it was deafening, it was Escad who moved for him.

Elazul could only watch as Escad sat at Imu's other side, ruffling her hair; and then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, gently guiding her to lean on him. The girl complied without a word, her stance finally relaxing. Elazul wanted to look away, feeling a little more out of sorts, but he couldn't stop his gaze from being transfixed on them. A vague thought that told him 'he should've done that' echoed at the back of his head and he didn't bother to brush it off. It was true; he should've done that. He felt inexplicably angry at Escad and wanted to punch him, but at the same time he was softened with gratitude that the other man had done what he couldn't for Imu.

Escad didn't say anything, but when he caught Elazul's eye, there wasn't any hint of the competitiveness that was present his gaze when they had first met. There was only concern for Imu. There might have been a tiny hint of empathy for him as well, though Elazul thought that it might only be his imagination.

The three of them sat in complete silence for what seemed like eternity. The scene of Rubens' death kept replaying in Elazul's head— a quick hand wrapping around Rubens' core, the slight "tink" of nails on the delicate gem, the guttural sound that the ruby Jumi uttered in pain, and the swift, bone-cracking movement as the flame of hope was snatched right out his body. He had fallen to his knees after he'd witnessed it; it wasn't the first time he'd seen a Jumi die, but he had never seen a Jumi die _that_ way. It looked and sounded _painful_. Even the word 'pain' seemed like an understatement.

"Escad," said a small voice, breaking through the uncomfortable stillness. Both knights turned towards the source, Imu. A pause followed, and then, "I think Laz needs this more than I do." She then lifted her head from Escad's shoulder and straightened her legs out in front of her, giving Elazul a meaningful look. For a moment, he thought that she was going to guide him onto her shoulder, similar to what Escad had done for her— until she stood up and said, facing them, "Could you go lend him your warm, manly shoulder?"

The air abruptly turned casual. Elazul managed to feel and look affronted, despite the situation, and Escad gave a snort, waving his hand dismissively. "No way," they both said at the same time.

"Synchro-speak tells me otherwise, silly little boys," said Imu playfully, wagging her finger at them. "Don't be shy now. If you're friends, then you should comfort each other."

"But we're—"

"—not friends."

"Finishing each other's sentences already!" She clapped her hands together gleefully. "Okay, I'm going to leave you two alone now. Make sure to let Laz lean on you, 'Scad!" And she was out the door before either of them could get another word in.

"What just happened?" asked Elazul, confused.

"You tell me," said Escad, his tone the same.

And those were the first words they directly spoke to each other, followed by another awkward silence. Elazul knew from the start that he wouldn't be able to get along with this man, despite Imu's repeated efforts to push them otherwise.

On the subject of Imu… wasn't she depressed just a moment ago? How was she able to recover that fast? Was it…? He gave a wary sidelong glance towards Escad. Was it him? Was it because he comforted her?

He felt inexplicably anxious at the thought. Elazul had never comforted Imu; there was never any need to. She was always smiling, and laughing, and practically frolicking about that he would be a fool to even consider that she could be sad at all. He had never seen her down— she was always in high spirits that it was almost suspicious. But she was cheerless, only a moment ago, and he hadn't been able to do a thing. It was Escad who responded to her, and it was Escad who made her feel better.

Elazul had done nothing but stare. He felt like he was defeated there, somewhere. As though there was battle that he wasn't aware he'd been fighting until he'd lost.

"Those who cry for the Jumi shall turn to stone."

Elazul turned to look at Escad, surprised. "What?"

"You know this, don't you?" said Escad quietly, not looking at him. "An ancient curse, made to separate Jumi and human."

"I know," he replied, looking away with a frown. He also knew where the conversation was heading. He had been aware of that curse from the very beginning— it was why he never approached too many people for help, until Imu. It was also why he was trying to act distant around her.

"She's human," continued Escad, tone even.

"I know."

"What will you do if she cries?"

"I won't let it happen."

"Hm." He heard Escad stand from the bed, and watched as he approached the door. Before exiting, he turned around to face him. "After you're done using her, maybe you should leave her alone."

Elazul felt like he'd been slapped in the face. Using her? _Using her_? It felt like his blood was boiling in his rage; he stood quickly, his hands balled into fists, ready to punch the Holy Knight in the face. How dare he even _imply_ that he was using Imu? Imu was not an object to be _used_— she was a person. He asked for her help and she agreed; he wasn't _using_ her. He genuinely enjoyed her company and constantly worried about her and wanted to keep her safe with him at all times. They were friends and he asked her a favor, and if she asked _him_ to do something for her, he would do it without question. He would do _anything_ for her.

He hadn't realized he'd voiced all of these thoughts out loud until Escad's expression shifted from feigned calmness into that of wide-eyed disbelief. Then Escad gazed at him, his expression turned cold. "I really hate people who don't think they're doing anything wrong." And he left room, leaving Elazul to stare after him.

"I'm not doing anything wrong," he protested to the air, sitting back on the bed dully, "…am I?" He placed his head in his hands, sighing. He never even considered that he was using Imu. Mainly because it wasn't his intention. It was _never_ his intention.

He could see where Escad was coming from. He knew, underneath the other man's words, that he was telling him that Imu was in danger just being with him— Escad merely shared the same worries as him. Elazul knew that, as he told himself the same things every single day, over and over. It was the reason he was always guarded and cautious of his words and actions towards her.

But to ask him to leave her alone— to stay away from her… he couldn't do that. He'd tried and failed. In the end, he'd made excuses to see her again. He would like to stay friends with her, and be part of her life, because she was already part of his.

Elazul couldn't leave Imu even if he tried. And even if he did, he would always come back. He would always be there for her. He'd decided this to himself long ago.

—

It had been ten days since Esmeralda's death. They spent these days in silence, but it was never like the comfortable ones Elazul shared with Pearl. Unless they were asleep or eating, there was hardly a quiet moment between him and Imu. She would always talk about anything and everything, and ask him silly questions like "what's that on your head?" or "can I touch your abs?" or "is your arm the only rock part in your body?" or "are you a rabite-person?". He would always give her a strange look, answering either yes or no to her questions, acting like he was annoyed or disgruntled, but actually quite amused. He would hide a smile by looking away from her, as though he weren't paying attention to her incessant babble.

Those ten days, agonizingly long as they were, did not have those moments. Imu was unusually quiet, always holed up in their inn room if they weren't out, or looking at something in the distance whenever they were traveling. She hardly spoke or ate, the latter being the most alarming of all. He didn't know what to do— he felt frustrated at his own uselessness. It hurt him to see her that way but he couldn't do anything about it. He could only watch as she sulked around, emitting an aura of depression wherever she went.

There were times when he just wanted to grab the girl and shake her until her sadness dispersed; this was the milder alternative to what he wanted to do most of the time— to hold her to him, and rub her back, and tell her that everything was going to be all right, that he was there for her. But he couldn't bring himself to do any of those— he couldn't even bring himself to _touch_ her, afraid that he might somehow break her or worsen everything.

Whenever he could see her on the height of her depression, like she was going to cry, he would glare at her, channeling his anger for his own uselessness in that one gaze, hoping to at least scare her tears away. Because of the amount of times that he'd stop her from crying this way, he'd memorized the way she looked and acted like whenever she was on the verge of tears, and whenever she would stop them. He didn't like it.

"I lost a guardian before," he said to her quietly. He was sitting on his bed, fumbling with his sand mantle absentmindedly. He ran a hand through his hair uneasily, and continued. "I don't remember what happened now, or what she looked like. But I remember how… how she died, somewhat— it's one of the earliest memories I have. I was holding her in my arms, and it was the first time I heard anyone address me by my name."

Imu was silent, but he knew she was listening to him intently. He'd heard her sit up from her bed as he was talking.

"And then she vanished, like she was never there. Perhaps if I hadn't done what I did; it was careless— I rushed to the enemy, but I was too weak and she protected me. And she died for me. It was my fault. It's why I'm very protective of Pearl. I'd failed to save my first guardian—"

"But you were only trying to protect her," Imu interrupted, her voice somewhat strained. "That wasn't your fault."

"Neither is Esmeralda's death yours," snapped Elazul, a bit more forcefully than he'd intended. The silence that followed filled him with dread. He'd said the wrong thing again. "I'm sorry," he finally said after a few moments, "I just… I understand what you're going through."

There was no response from her. Heart pounding, he swiftly turned around, worried that he'd made her cry or even more depressed. What he found was a puzzled looking Imu, sitting with her legs spread across her bed, head slightly tilted and eyes wide with curiosity. "What is it?" he asked nervously.

"How old are you?"

"…what?"

"Aren't you, like, sixteen or seventeen?"

"…no." He couldn't tell what she was trying to get from this.

"Eighteen?"

"No."

"Nineteen? Nineteen and a half? Nineteen and three-quarters?"

Why was she trying to guess his age? And why were those numbers so far off, as though he couldn't be past twenty? "Imu, stop guessing. I'm eighty."

Imu's mouth dropped open unattractively, and it looked like her mind had stopped working. For a moment, Elazul worried that it had, because he'd never seen her so blanked out before, and he already knew that she wasn't leaning very well on the brains department. Until—

"B-b-but," she stammered, much to his relief. "You. And Pearl. She's your guardian."

"So?"

"You're together. You're her knight."

"Knights and Guardians are supposed to be together, yes."

"But… you're _eighty_." She said this as though it was the most blasphemous thing in the world to be _eighty_.

"That I am." He really couldn't understand what was going on in her head at the moment (not discounting several other instances). It was probably better if he never did, he decided.

"You're _eighty_? How can you be so _old_? Pearl should be like your granddaughter now or something!"

Granddaughter? The idea promptly made him laugh and he made no effort to stop it. "Pearl? My _granddaughter_? She's probably older than me by several hundred years. She can't be my granddaughter."

"Okay, now you're just trolling me," said Imu disbelievingly, finger pointing accusingly at him. He had no idea what "trolling" meant and was about to ask, but then decided to let her continue for his own amusement. "There is no way that a sweet young girl like Pearl can be 'several hundred' years old. It's just not logical."

"I don't think you're in any position to argue logic here, Imu," he said good-naturedly, waving his hand, "or at all, for that matter."

"Be quiet, heathen!" she spat, clearly insulted. He found her flushed face quite cute, though he denied the thought as soon as it came. "What are Jumi standards for this pair up, anyway? I mean, it's bad enough that a gentle soul like Pearl ended up with the likes of _you_, and now you're telling me that there's some kind of pedophilia theme here, where an eighty year old would be stalking and dragging around pretty young girls."

He stifled another laugh, using his fist to cover his mouth. How was she able to do that? The atmosphere was miserable only moments before, and now he was trying not to laugh at her annoyed words. "Firstly, the Jumi never age or grow old," he started, matter-of-factly, trying not to chuckle, "for all we know, Pearl could be one thousand years old and she'd still look like she is now. Secondly, our partnerships have little to do with how old we are. I could be anyone's knight or guardian even if I were only two years old. And lastly, do you even know what pedophilia means?"

"Of course I do!" was Imu's indignant response, face still red. "It's when there's a much older person and a really young person…" She paused, nose crinkling, and recoiled when he gave her an expectant look. "…together," she finished lamely.

"I'm much older than you and we're 'together' right now. Is this pedophilia?"

"Ew, Elazul!" she screeched, blushing even more and looking ready to inflict him bodily harm with a pillow. "You're not even eighty. Don't even think it!"

"I'm just trying to clarify your definition," he said, raising his hands in front of him soothingly, but his amusement clear in his tone. "And I _am_ eighty."

"No, you're not," she said through gritted teeth. She then rubbed at her face, something he noticed that she always did when she'd become too flushed, and abruptly hid herself under her covers. "I'm going to bed."

"Alright," he said with an uncontrollable grin spreading on his face. "Be careful though. There's an old man in the room with you, little girl."

"GOOD NIGHT, LAZ!" she shouted under her sheets. He chuckled lightly, and responded with a quiet, "good night, Imu."

That was the first time in days that he actually had a conversation with her. It was refreshing, and he was glad that he made her feel even a little bit better, enough to be able to joke around. Perhaps he should act a little bit nicer the following days—just a little—if only to help her recover from her guardian's loss. He didn't have anyone who could do the same for him when he'd lost his, although he hardly knew what sadness felt even then. But, unlike him then, Imu could feel _now_, and he would be there to comfort her.

The next morning he found Imu on the floor, in a mess of sheets and pillows, her left leg the only thing remaining on the bed beside her. She'd fallen to the floor in her sleep, something she hadn't done since Esmeralda's death. During those ten long days, he'd woken up to find her on her bed, curled up in her sheets, shivering and whimpering Esmeralda's name. He'd sat beside her bed, his heart wrenching and gently squeezing her hand to comfort her. Then the following morning she would be awake before him, as though she'd never slept at all.

He wanted to laugh and cheer with relief, finding her sprawled on the floor like nothing was wrong. She was returning to her old self, if this was any indication. She might not have fully recovered from her loss, perhaps she never would, but this odd sight of normalcy meant that she was on the road back to the old Imu, at least. It made him happy.

He gingerly picked her up from the floor, sheets and all, careful not to disturb her slumber. She looked peaceful, and that was enough to make him smile. Her head limply fell onto his chest, a grin ghosting on her face. What sounded like "razz…" slipped from her lips as she curled into him, possibly for his warmth, and he could only assume she meant his nickname "Laz". His brow furrowed, feeling slightly red on the face, and hurriedly (but gently) laid her back on her bed.

"Sleep well, Imu," he whispered to her, letting go of his inhibitions for once and lightly stroking her cheek. Imu slept on, unaware, but looking a lot happier than she'd had for days.

—

He'd been lying there, in agony, for what seemed like eternity. He didn't know how long he'd been in this bed, because all he knew was that he was in pain. A lot of pain. Coming from his scratched core, seeping into his skin, throbbing through his veins, and knocking viciously in his skull. He felt both cold and hot, like he was being burned alive in the middle of a blizzard, and he felt like he was going to die. Sometimes he would drift into dreams filled with Jumi deaths and tears and statues and Sandra and Blackpearl, and he would wake up to this unbearable pain the next day… or was it night? He couldn't tell.

His only consolation, the only source of comfort he had was the warm presence of Imu beside him. He knew she was always there, wiping at his brows and holding his hand, and sleeping with her head on his wrist. Sometimes she would talk to him, telling him to be all right, to _please_ recover, and he tried for her, he really did. Sometimes he wanted to squeeze her hand to tell her he was all right, that he could hear her, because often she would speak in a tone that held back tears— familiar tones that he'd heard before for Rubens and Esmeralda and _him_. He didn't want her to cry, not for him and not like this. He didn't want her to ever cry for him.

After quite a while he started to feel just little a bit better. When he felt Imu's presence beside him, he tried to tell her that he was alright, and that _please_ if she could, just find Pearl for him, just to go see if she was safe. He didn't know if his message came across to her, he didn't seem to have the ability to speak properly.

When he woke up the next moment, Imu was no longer by his side. He couldn't see it, but he felt it. And he called out her name, repeatedly, sorry that he told her to find Pearl. He was being incoherent, perhaps, but he wanted to scream Imu's name, to tell her to come back to his side. He felt cold, and alone, and all sorts of things that he couldn't understand. He blindly groped beside him, looking for her comforting hand, but it wasn't there. He tried to speak, to call Imu back, to ask her to wait until he was recovered, and then they would go and find Pearl. Together.

But she wasn't there. She'd left to find Pearl for him, just like he'd asked. For a moment he was angry that she immediately did what he asked of her, yet he knew he couldn't blame her. The loss of her presence added another pain in his chest, something that he wished he just didn't feel.

"_Laz, please get better. Please be alright. Please…"_

He reminded himself of her words, heaving pained breath after breath.

_Yes, I'll get better. I'll get better really fast. _

_Just please, come back to my side…_

—

He found himself in Geo, in the shop of the strange jeweler named Alex, who they'd met during their time with Esmeralda. It looked abandoned, dusty and cold, unlike the first time he'd been here with Imu. Something led him here, though he couldn't place what is was. A faint calling in his damaged core— a pull of another Jumi, almost as though it was an instinct. Pearl had told him about it before, it was the call of the Clarius. Knights and Guardians had the same pull to each other, long ago, when the Jumi were able to cry, though now it was only for all the Jumi and the one who could still shed tears.

There was a Clarius in the room.

He thought he'd gone insane when he first felt the call. He'd felt it when he'd been about to leave Imu's home. When he'd felt better enough to stand and walk, her twin apprentices had worriedly told him that their master had gone to Geo to look for his guardian.

"We'll come with you to Geo," the boy, Bud, had said forcefully as he packed various things in his little satchel, trying in vain to fit his frying pan into it.

"We've never seen master so serious," the girl, Lisa, had supplied as she guided him to the front door. "Something must've happened. We're coming to help."

"We waited for you to recover first 'cause master will kill us if we left someone injured in the house—"

"And besides we owe you for letting Pearl out of our sights—"

"But we're worried about master—"

"We'll help you find her—"

He'd felt the slight twinge then, when he'd stepped out the door with Lisa at his side. It was an indescribable feeling, but he'd felt that he knew what he had to do; he merely had to go to the direction it was coming from. He'd known, somehow, that it led to Geo.

"No," he'd said to the twins, who both gave an angry squeak. "Imu will want you to stay here, where it's safe. I'll go by myself. I know where to find her."

"But you're injured!" Lisa had yelled as she pulled on his arm.

"You won't make it there by yourself," Bud had said on his other side.

"I'll manage," he'd said calmly. He knew Imu would never forgive him if anything happened to her apprentices, so he'd had to make sure they would stay. "Imu won't be happy to find you away from home. Do you want to upset her any more than she is now?"

"No," the twins had said together, heads hung low. There was a small contemplative pause, and then, "At least let us help you get there." They then hurriedly pulled him into Imu's monster corral. The rabite, Rabite, and the chocobo, Cloud, were grazing on the grass, while two others, a succubus and a chobin hood, seemed to be asleep by the barn. Bud then pulled Cloud towards them, much to the irritation of the bird.

"This is Cloud, you can ride him to Geo," Bud had said, his eyes staring up at Elazul's in earnest.

"Please protect master," Lisa had added as Elazul mounted the chocobo.

"I will," he'd said to them. He was grateful for the kids, and he expressed this as he left with a promise to bring back their master.

He'd ridden Cloud all the way to Geo. The chocobo seemed to know how grave the situation was, because it hadn't given a squawk of complaint towards the stranger that was riding him, despite the fact that it was hardly mild-mannered towards his own owner (though it might have had something to do with Imu's jokes of eating him). Elazul was thankful for the calmness of the bird— he was still aching all over his body during their trip.

When they'd arrived in Geo, he let the chocobo go home, and scoured the place by himself. Nothing seemed to be amiss, although he'd found himself getting drawn to one particular building.

Now that he was inside, he considered that perhaps he _had_ gone crazy. There was no one in the room, only glass counters and old furniture and dust. He felt the pull very strongly in the room, and yet there wasn't a single soul there with him. Not a single Jumi, much less a Clarius. He slumped to the ground, pain shooting through his legs for standing too long. Was he wrong? What led him here then?

The door burst open behind him.

"Elazul?" said an all-too-familiar voice. His heart soared, and he turned around almost too fast to find Imu standing by the doorway, looking as though she'd seen a ghost.

"Imu," he responded, starting to feel a tad lightheaded from his giddiness. He couldn't explain why he was so happy to see her again, but he definitely was, and there was no use stopping such a feeling. "I heard you went to Geo to find Pearl for me."

She didn't respond. She approached him slowly, her face unreadable. He smiled, and took weak, staggering steps towards her as well.

"Thank you," he said, smiling a bit wider now, "You didn't have to—"

"You stupid idiot!" she yelled, her shoulders shaking. He almost stumbled when their eyes met— her bright green eyes were watery; and there was a tremor in her voice that he barely made out as she said, "you're walking around all injured, trying to be cool—" her voice raised a bit "—but that's just stupid."

He stared at her, feeling guilty and anxious for a variety of reasons that he couldn't quite point out. She stared back, lips pursed, eyebrows furrowed, and hands stiff and balled into fists at her sides. When she took a deep shuddering breath, he moved towards her almost automatically.

"Don't cry!" he said urgently, forgetting that he couldn't move properly. He stumbled towards her, completely unbalanced, hands flying to her shoulders. In the flurry of movement, he felt her try to catch him, a gasp escaping her lips as they collided with each other halfway. It took him a few moments to realize that they'd ended up in each other's arms.

One of his hands rested on her shoulder, while the other was on her upper arm. Both her arms were wrapped around his waist. Their cheeks were pressed together— so close that he could feel the heat rising from her neck to her face, and her hot breath in his ear. He had never been this close to her.

At the back of his head, he vaguely realized that this embrace was somehow wrong; for one, his arms should be around _her_ waist, not the other way around. And should he really be leaning awkwardly this way, with his butt in air, when embracing someone? He also probably smelled like chocobo. Was it proper to press his chest closer to hers? No, wait, that couldn't be proper at all, no matter how soft and comfortable it felt. Different thoughts ran through his head a mile a minute; all indistinct questions about what he was doing, and what he should be doing, and what exactly was happening, and why he was enjoying it.

He couldn't tell what was what. He also felt that they shouldn't matter anyway. Perhaps it was the feel of her heartbeat on his core, and the softness of her body against his, and the smell of grass and something delightful in her hair, and the way her skin felt warm and soft underneath his fingers, that told him nothing else should matter. Why hadn't he done this before? If he knew it would feel this nice, he probably would've. He was an idiot to deny himself this.

The squeak in his ear blew all these thoughts away, and he felt Imu (regrettably) pull herself away from him. Elazul looked up, a bit dazed, blinking at her blushing face. What happened again? Where was he? Wait, was his body supposed to be hurting like this? He grimaced, finally waking up from his unexplainable trance. Perhaps he'd actually gone completely insane.

"Y-you!" screeched Imu, shakily pointing at him. He stared at her, confused and disoriented. "W-why are you here in this shop w-were you trying to steal gems to feed your lonely penguin kittens goodbye?"

"What?" he said outright. He was already confused enough as it was; would it kill her to make sense for once?

Imu continued to babble incoherently at him, wide-eyed and flushed, waving her arms around doing weird, nonsensical gestures.

At the back of his head, he vaguely thought of their hug. It was awkward and out of nowhere, yet—he considered this particular thought as crazy—he enjoyed it. It wouldn't bother him if it happened again, though he knew he shouldn't think this way; he shouldn't let one little hug disregard his efforts to act distant from her.

Yet Imu looked particularly adorable as she babbled on, flustered, with her cheeks a lovely shade of pink, that he couldn't stop himself from backtracking.

Perhaps, he would give her another hug later. It shouldn't hurt. Maybe he could claim it was an accident.

"What I'm trying to say is," said Imu, finally able to speak lucidly, "what were you doing here?"

Elazul looked at her briefly, trying to hide a smile.

_Later._

—

Imu took his hand in hers, and held it close to her chest. "…I love you."

Elazul froze with shock. She said she loved him. What? Why? _How?_ His mind worked with a million thoughts a minute, the idea of her confession sending his thoughts in complete disarray. Did she mean as a brother, or as a friend? Or as something else? She told him three simple words that felt like he could take ages to finally understand and respond to.

But he didn't have that time.

"I'll bring her back for you," she continued. She squeezed his hand tightly, her breath hitching. "This… this is the only thing I can do for you now…"

She locked her gaze with his— her tear-filled eyes with his confused and fearful ones. And slowly, a sad smile spread across her face. The little crinkle in her eyes as she smiled allowed a single teardrop to slide down her cheek. "…to cry for you."

_NO!_

Flesh turned to a stone gray in front of his eyes. The fingers that held his hand rapidly lost their warmth and their softness; all that remained was coldness of a lifeless stone.

The ancient curse of the Jumi has turned Imu into stone.

His mouth opened in a silent scream. Everything came crashing back down on him. The world felt as though it had crumbled around him— his worst fear had come to fruition. Her single teardrop was all it took for his whole world to end right in front of him. His chest burned with so much emotion that it seemed he was about to burst. His hand came free from hers without his notice— he balled it into a fist and held it against his mouth as he let out a single, muffled cry of anguish. Her name.

_Imu._

—_**x—**_

"Elazul?"

_Imu?_

"Elazul, wake up."

_No._

"Elaaazuuul."

He felt something shaking him gently, and forced his eyes open to find his guardian, Pearl, looking down at him with a smile.

"Pearl?" he said groggily, feeling a slight ache on his back. He'd fallen asleep on the floor beside Imu's stone statue, he realized. How long had he been here? He wiped at his eyes, and felt bits of crusts falling from and stinging at his eyes. "Ugh," he grunted, displeased. He'd also fallen asleep while crying, or probably cried in his sleep.

"Are you awake now?" said Pearl, dropping to her knees to push his hair out of his face. "Florina wants to meet us in the chamber room." She smiled brightly then, brighter than she'd ever had since she was revived. "It's important."

He looked up at her, mildly curious. Florina never called them for anything, much less anything "important". It couldn't be about _this_… could it? "What is it?"

"Hm-hmm, you'll see," said Pearl in a sing-song voice. She was definitely happy. He stood up and watched his guardian walk to the door. "I'll be waiting for you outside," she said to him, and then turned to the statue beside him, "see you later, Imu." And she left, closing the door behind her.

Elazul looked at the door for a few moments, slightly perplexed. Then, not wanting to keep his guardian waiting, he turned to Imu, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I'll see you later," he whispered softly. He stroked her cheek gently, imagining warmth that should be there. He smiled sadly, his chest twisting painfully. He sighed. "I won't be long."

He then turned around and walked through the door without looking back.

It would have been harder to leave if he did.

* * *

><p><em>Should have known then, what I know now…<br>Dying every second that you're not around  
>Should have been there, when you needed me…<br>Now I'm by myself, on my bended knees  
>Should have loved you, while I had the chance to…<br>Couldn't realize that you were the truth  
>Should have shown you, what you meant to me…<br>_

"_My Regret" - Banky_

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Refer to first chapter.

Not exactly my favorite chapter. I wavered a lot while writing this, even scrapping the version that I already finished (6k words). It might seem inconsistent and just…not too pleasurable to read. It's school time again, so I guess I'm a bit distracted. D: Sorry (about the length too—lul short chapters are wat—and the delay).

Soooo… Elazulxheroine = UST. Kids, this is what happens when you don't express yourself properly to your loved ones the first chance you get. But Elazul ends up unintentionally showing that he cares anyway. The more I write, the more I love this couple. :'D ANGST ILU

Soap! Thanks for reading! :3 Please review (they let me know you actually read it; and they inspire me)! Special thanks to **Shadow's Rage**, **I'm Doxophobic**, **ari**, **Saya**, **isil-ando **and **ManaGirl **for making me feel welcome in the world of fanfics! :3 (How do I respond to anon reviewers? D:) Also **Seonaid Mist**, for letting me write this (that 'heathen' thing is a shout out to you xD). ilualllol

PS- Elazul _rode_ Cloud. GET IT? LOL

Final PS- Cookies to anyone who finds an unintentional double-entendre by Imu hanging around. And then consider that Escad has a 2-H sword and Elazul a 1-H one. Mull that around for a bit. FOOD FOR THOUGHT LOL


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